The Snow King
by Zerlinda
Summary: SEQUEL to The Snow Queen. Takes place 5 years after the SQ. Something isn't right. After five years of happiness, Jack is acting very odd and as Elsa's concern grows, she begins having nightmares. Jack thinks Pitch is back but she isn't so sure. But if it's not Pitch Black who's causing her to have nightmares, then who is it? Um, summary sucks.
1. Chapter 1: Problems (Jack's POV)

**Hello everyone! Welcome to the Snow King, sequel to my story the Snow Queen! I hope that you all enjoy this story as much as you like my previous one. If you haven't read the Snow Queen, please do before reading this one as it might be a little confusing if you don't.**

**This is taking place a little over 5 years after the end of the Snow Queen.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Problems (Jack's POV)**

"North!" I yelled, throwing open the door to his workshop, not even bothering to close it as it bounced off the wall. Elves hurried to get out of my way, shoving and pushing each other as I didn't even try to avoid stepping on them. Luckily, I didn't and Phil glared at me as he closed the door. I flopped down onto the couch with my head in my hands and fingers gripping my hair when North walked in.

"Jack?" He asked, concerned. "What is it? Where's Elsa?"

"Elsa's fine," I assured him. "She's at the Ice Castle with Olaf right now." I groaned. "She's actually the reason why I'm here - I've got a problem."

"Problem?" North repeated. "Well, you know, Jack, all good relationships have their issues. You stick with that person through the rough patches and the easy ones - that's what being in a relationship is all about."

"What?" My head shot up before dropping again. "No, no, it's not like that, I mean ... we have our issues, but we work through them alright."

"Then what's the matter?" He sat down next to me, resting his elbows on his keens with his hands clasped together. I didn't say anything. "Jack, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, standing up, unable to sit still. "Nothing is ... _wrong_ ... exactly. Elsa and I are great. We're great. Everything's ... everything's great."

"But you said you have a problem..." North reminded me slowly. "Are you no longer interested in her?"

My eyes widened and I spun around in shock. "What? Of course not! I love her now more than ever." I couldn't blame North for being confused. I would be confused, too. The words coming out of my mouth weren't making any sense, then again, the thoughts going through my head weren't exactly coherent either. They were muddled by doubt and nerves.

"Did you see Pitch?" North continued.

I shook my head. "No, it's not that serious. Well ... it _is_ serious, but it's not _that_ kind of serious... Do you know what I mean?"

He stared at me with a blank look in his eyes. "No."

Letting out a sound of frustration that had more to do with my confusing thoughts than North's lack of comprehension, I sat back down and my leg started to bounce up and down rapidly with my inability to remain still for any amount of time. I think Elsa has been noticing my abnormal behavior as she's been giving me concerned looks and constantly asking me if I was alright for the past few weeks. Can't say I blame her: I probably looked like I was going to have a nervous breakdown any moment. Mostly because that's how I felt.

"You ... you wouldn't happen to know anything about..." I hesitated and chickened out. "Nevermind. It's not important." I stood up again and started pacing.

"Obviously you feel it's important for you to be so stressed over it," North observed, shoving a glass of eggnog into my hands. I didn't drink it. "Come, drink and talk to me. In plain English, if you don't mind."

My fingers closed around the glass, but I didn't drink from it. The mere thought of this subject tied my stomach into knots, ruining any want of food or drink. Silence rang loudly in the room as I stared at the liquid pensively. I came here for advice, but now that I was here, I didn't know how to ask for it.

"Jack," North said patiently, still watching me from where he was seated on the couch. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what the problem is."

"I want to propose to her!" The words spilled from my mouth before I cold stop them and North's eyes widened in shock.

"Propose?" He repeated, thinking about it before nodding slowly. "It's been ... what? Five years since you first met her?"

"Five years and a month." I corrected him. He raised an eyebrow but - thankfully - didn't question my precision.

"Well, it's only natural to start thinking about marriage when you've been with someone for that amount of time. Do you have a ring?"

"No."

"Do you have a date to ask her?"

"No."

"Any plans?"

"No."

"Ideas?"

"No."

He blinked, looking at me incredulously. "Do you have _anything?"_

I sighed. "No."

To my surprise, he started laughing. And I'm not talking about a few chuckles, either. Oh no, this was full blown _laughter_ that continued for a good five minutes. He finally calmed down, wiping a tear from his eye as I scowled at him.

"Sorry, Jack," he said, still chuckling to himself. "But it's no wonder why you're so stressed out; you don't even have a _ring!"_

"That's why I came to you," I explained. "Do you think you could help me come up with some ideas? I keep drawing a blank." I looked at him hopefully, but he shook his head.

"Unfortunately, Jack, I think your best resource is you."

"Me?" Did he not hear what I just said? I got _nothing!_

"Yes, you. Think about it, Jack; you know her better than anyone. Perhaps even better than she knows herself - it'll mean more to her."

"But I've been thinking about it for a _month,"_ I argued. "And I don't even have an _idea._ Can you at least help me with the ring?"

Again, North shook his head. "I wouldn't be any help, Jack." My head dropped in defeat and he stood up to clap an encouraging hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll figure it out. The worst she can do is say no."

"That's what I'm afraid of," I muttered under my breath as I set the full glass of eggnog down on a table and walked out of the door.

***_*_* At the Warren *_*_***

"Bunny?" I called, looking around the green landscape and taking care not to freeze anything. Normally, I would take great joy in irritating him in such a way, but it would probably be wise to try to stay on his good side. "Bunny, you here?"

"Of course I'm here, mate," a familiar voice grumbled from behind me. "Where else would I be?" I turned around to see him hopping up towards me. Eggs ran around my feet and I quickly jumped onto the top of my staff to avoid stepping on any of them.

"The eggs are looking good, Bunny," I said, looking down at he colorfully painted ovals below.

"What do you want, Jack?" Bunny asked, crossing his arms over his chest. I bit the inside of my cheek.

"I want to ask Elsa to marry me."

"Okay... What does that have to do with me?"

Groaning in exasperation, I ran my fingers through my hair. "I don't know! I was hoping you would ... you know ... give me some ideas or something?"

"Are you kidding me? What do you think I know about proposals? It's nearly two months before Easter and I've still go millions of eggs to paint! Go ask Tooth."

He hopped away before I could protest, leaving me to climb off my staff once the eggs were clear. _Maybe I needed some new friends,_ I thought as I flew off towards Tooth Palace.

***_*_* At Tooth Palace *_*_***

At the Tooth Palace, all of Tooth's fairies buzzed around me, hurrying in and out as they placed teeth in the appropriate boxes and grabbed a quarter before heading out to their next destination. Luckily for me, Tooth was working from her hideout tonight, listing off cities faster than I could keep up with. How do women talk so fast?

"Jack!" She said when she noticed me landing on the tile floor. Baby Tooth flew around my head a couple of times in greeting. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

I frowned. Perhaps the Guardians should start seeking each other for other reasons except trouble. "No. Well ... yes? _Ugh ..._ I need some advice ..."

"Okay ..." she said, looking at me expectantly.

Taking a deep breath, I said, "I want to propose to Elsa."

My hands clamped over my ears as she let out a loud squeal, making all of her fairies look up from their work. "Oh, Jack, that's _wonderful!"_ A smile formed on my lips at her enthusiasm, but quickly disappeared when she continued. "Do you have the ring? Let me see! How are you going to ask her? What are the plans? When are you going ask? Tell me!"

"Err," I hesitated, rubbing the back of my neck. "No, I don't know, I don't have any, and I don't know."

She looked at me with a blank expression and blinked. "You don't even have a ring?"

"Well, it's not like I can go to the nearest jewelry store and buy one," I said defensively. "I was kind of hoping that you could help me out with some ideas?"

"Hmmm..." She tapped her chin as she thought with a pensive expression on her face. "Good point..." Just then, one of her fairies flew up to her and squeaked. Her eyes widened. "I'm sorry Jack, but I can't help - I'm super busy. Apparently there was a fight at an orphanage and dozens of teeth got knocked out. I'm sure she'll love it, whatever you decide!" And she went back to work. I sighed, resting my chin on the top of my staff. I really needed some new friends. If Tooth was this busy, Sandy was definitely busy. Not to mention, I would have a hard time understanding him if I did ask. Who else could I ask?

A thought struck me and I immediately took off to the sky towards the Ice Castle.

***_*_* At the Ice Castle *_*_***

I landed on the balcony as per usual and walked inside. It was nearly dark. Elsa poked her head out from her sculpture room and smiled when she saw me.

"There you are," she said, walking up to me. "I was wondering what was taking so long."

"No worries," I assured her. "I just had to make a couple of detours on my way back. Where's Olaf?"

Her brow furrowed. "He's outside with Marshmallow. Why?"

Panic sparked in me as I thought frantically for a reason that wasn't the truth. "No reason," I lied horribly, stepping around her. "I'll be outside with Olaf."

"Alright..." I heard her say to my retreating form skeptically. Thankfully, she did not press the issue as I raced down one of the twin staircases and flew through the ice doors.

Marshmallow and Olaf looked up at me, exchanging a look between themselves before Marshmallow returned to his usual disguise as a snow covered boulder. Somehow, I still don't think he's too fond of company. Olaf smiled up at me.

"Jack!" He cried. "You're back!"

"I wasn't even gone for a day." I laughed, then became serious. "Olaf, I need your help and I need you to keep this a secret from Elsa. She can't know," I paused before glancing over at the hiding snow monster. "That goes for you, too, Marshmallow. Got it?"

A low rumble sounded through the air and I took that as his affirmation. Olaf looked conflicted.

"Secret?" He repeated with a frown. "I don't think secrets are good for a relationship."

"Well this one is a good secret, Olaf," I assured him. "Trust me. I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Obviously, those were the magic words because Olaf's eyes just about tripled in size and he gasped, smiling. _"Really?"_ He said. I nodded. "Oh! I just know she's going to say yes!" In his excitement, he began to cheer and dance around. I quickly hushed him, glancing at the Ice Castle behind me to make sure Elsa didn't hear. Unfortunately, I saw a figure in one of the windows that could only be Elsa.

"Be quiet, Olaf!" I chided him. "Secret, remember?"

"Right!" He agreed, clamping his stick hands over his mouth. "Sorry!"

I grinned. "So, could you help me come up with some ideas?"

* * *

**Okay, this wasn't my best chapter. I'll admit to that. I liked the first couple of chapter to the Snow Queen better, but I hoped that you all enjoyed it enough to keep reading. It gets better - I promise!**

**Thanks for any reviews, favorites, and/or follows.**

**Zerlinda**


	2. Chapter 2: Strange Behavior (Elsa's POV)

**Hi! I'm so glad that everyone is excited about this sequel and are excited about it. Poor Jack! I almost feel sorry for him, but it's a bit amusing to have him so nervous.**

**If you haven't already guessed, this will be written in the same fashion as the Snow Queen was, with the POVs alternating.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Strange Behavior (Elsa's POV)**

I frowned after Jack for several moments. We've been together for five years now and everything's been going great. Or, at least, I thought so. Ever since our anniversary last month, he's been acting very strange. Always lost in thought and stuttering so much that I could barely understand him whenever I asked what he had been thinking about so intensely. Like he was hiding something.

We had just arrived at the Ice Castle for our monthly visit. Usually Jack loved to use this time to play pranks on me or do something fun like ice skating or snowball fights. I wasn't expecting anything different this time, but the moment we landed he immediately took off again, saying, "I've go to talk to North about some stuff," and when I offered to join him, he was quick to stop me. Leaving me where I was now, standing on the balcony feeling very confused.

Something important must be on his mind. He wasn't usually so secretive unless he was planning something - a prank or surprise. But even at those times he wasn't so ... on edge. It was an excited nervousness. he would smile widely and continuously and get really impatient and restless. This was different. He was nervous. The only time he stuttered was when he was nervous. I've never seen him like this. What was going on?

Thinking about nearby dates, nothing jumped out at me. Valentine's Day was coming up, but we never really did anything. Jack liked to joke that it was my holiday and, though I would roll my eyes, we would typically spend the day at an orphanage to give those children some love and fun. Our Valentine's Day celebrations were always spontaneous and random, occasionally occurring in the middle of summer. Still, he was always an excited secretive, never a nervous secretive. That's what really worried me.

"Elsa!" Olaf cried happily as he ran up to wrap his stick arms around my legs. I pushed my thoughts regarding Jack's strange behavior aside, deciding that he would tell me in his own time, and returned the hug.

"Hello, Olaf," I greeted him, smiling. I had missed my happy snowman. "How are you?"

"I am _wonderful!"_ He said, making me laugh. "I've missed you."

"Me, too."

He looked around. "Where's Jack?"

"Jack had to go talk to North about something. He should be back soon."

"Okay!" He said and walked away. "Hey, Marshmallow!" I heard him call as the main door downstairs opened. "Guess what?"

Smiling and shaking my head, I went into my sculpture room and began creating a sculpture of Annalise. She was twirling around as she laughed with a wide smile on her face and her hair flinging in multiple directions. I would have to visit her while I'm here. She recently turned twelve and, while it was wonderful to watch her grow, a part of me worries that as she grows older the less she'll believe in me until she could no longer see me. There's a special bond that's formed with your first believer and, though it's the natural progression of life, I can't help but feel a little sad.

Time passed and Jack still hadn't returned. I frowned at the setting sun, wondering what was taking so long. Was he alright? Did something happen to him? Hearing something land on the balcony, I left my not quite finished statue to look out the room and saw Jack walking inside. A relieved smile came across my lips.

"There you are," I said, walking up to him. "I was wondering what was taking so long."

His returning smile was small and weak. "No worries," he said. "I just had to make a couple of detours on my way back. Where's Olaf?"

My brow furrowed. I knew that he was fond of the talking snowman, but he wouldn't even meet my gaze. "He's outside with Marshmallow. Why?" What was so important that he had to talk to Olaf before me?

"No reason," he replied too quickly, looking panicked. "I'll be outside with Olaf."

"Alright..." I said slowly to his retreating form. The frown on my lips returned as I stared after him. His strange behavior was starting to worry me. Did I do something wrong? I thought back to our anniversary when it started, but couldn't remember anything out of the ordinary. It was almost like a switch had been flipped.

Returning to my sculpture room, I heard Olaf's voice coming from outside. There was too much distance for me to be able to make out what he was saying, but he sounded really excited. Curious, I walked to the window and saw Jack kneeling in front of the snowman. he was making motions with his hands as if telling him to be quiet, casting glances over his shoulder in my direction. I quickly stepped away from the window in hopes of being able to eavesdrop on the conversation and gather some information regarding Jack's unusual behavior, but their voices got too quiet for me to be able to hear anything.

I sighed and returned to working on my sculpture, but my mind was no longer in it. The ice refuse to do what I needed it to do in order for the statue to be completed to my standards. As the sun's level in the sky continued to decrease, my frustration increased. Eventually, I gave up letting out a breath roughly in hopes of relieving the burning pain that was beginning to form in my head. My thoughts were too centered on Jack to focus on anything else. Sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, my fingers buried themselves in my hair.

Snow began to fall around me in my frustration, but I didn't care enough to try to stop it. What was he up to? Was everything alright? Why was he suddenly acting so odd around me? Did I do something wrong? Say something wrong? Had his feelings for me diminished and he just didn't know how to tell me? Maybe he decided that he liked being single more than having a relationship.

My braid was causing scattered strands of my hair to be pulled and tugged at. It only served to elevate my temper and I tugged at the braid until it finally came undone, allowing the locks to come down around my face like a curtain. Something had to be wrong. Why else would he act this way? In the beginning, I thought it was something that would pass. Just a mood he was in for some reason. But it's been a month and it didn't seem to be getting better.

"Elsa?" I looked up to see jack watching me with concerned blue eyes. I pushed some hair out of my face, my frustration melting away as the snow stopped falling. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I said, leaning my head back against the ice wall. He walked into the room and sat next to me, his elbows resting on his bent knees. "I'm fine." He looked pointedly at the thin layer of snow on the floor and statues before raising an eyebrow at me. I smiled slightly in assurance. "Honestly."

Lifting a hand to my face, he softly brushed his knuckles against my cheek. I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes. "You seem frustrated," he pressed. His hand cupped my cheek and his thumb rubbed the apple of my cheek soothingly.

"I told you, I'm fine," I repeated. I moved my hand to cover his as I opened my eyes and looked straight into his. "Are you okay?"

A confused expression came across his face. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been acting a bit off lately."

He smiled, but I felt the muscles in his hand tense. "It's nothing, I've just had a lot on my mind. don't worry about it." I moved so that I held his hand in both of mine.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"Don't worry yourself," he said. "Olaf helped me sort some things out."

_"Olaf _helped you?" I repeated doubtfully.

"Hey, that snowman of yours can be very informative," he laughed. I could still see the worry in his eyes.

"I'm always here if you need anything, Jack," I said, hoping he would tell me something, _anything._ "Anything at all. You know that right?"

"I know," he told me. "And the same goes for you. _You_ know that, right?"

My lips curved up into a smile. "Yes, I know that." He smiled back at me and leaned forward to kiss my forehead as he stood up, his hand slipping from my grasp. "Jack?" I said, standing up as well and he turned to look at me. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, my hands burying themselves in his hair as I brought our lips together. He arms immediately went around my waist and he returned the kiss. When we broke apart, I looked into his eyes. "I love you, Jack."

His answering smile was blinding and he brought my lips back to his for another brief kiss. "I love you, too." Our eye contact was broken when he glanced up behind me at my unfinished statue of Annalise. "That's looking good."

Grimacing, I looked at it behind me. "It's not done yet, but I think I need to take a break."

"Can you teach me how to make things with ice?"

Five years together, this is the only time I've hear him express interest in learning my hobby. He never struck my as an artistic sort. He could _appreciate_ art, but I've never seen him do much in the way of producing it. I looked up at him, before resting my head on his chest.

"Um ... sure. I can try. Why the sudden interest?"

He shrugged, but I felt him tense at my question. "No reason." he said. He's been saying that a lot lately. I pulled back enough to look up at him again without removing myself from his embrace.

"Jack, _what_ is wrong?" He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "You're tense and on edge all the time, you keep dodging my questions ... I've never seen you like this before and it worries me."

Some of my hair fell in front of my face and one of his hands came from around my waist to push it behind my ear. "Nothing is wrong, Elsa," he said. "Trust me."

"I do trust you, Jack," I said, grazing his jawline with the tips of my fingers. "I'm just worried. you've been acting so odd and I can't help but wonder if ..." I bit my lip, looking down.

"If what?" He asked. I glimpsed up at up to see a crease forming on his brow.

"Nothing," I said, looking away and shaking my head. "I'm just being stupid. Forget it." I tried to walk away, but he wouldn't let me out of his arms.

"Elsa," he said firmly. "The last word that I would use to describe you is stupid. Now, what are you thinking?" I refused to make eye contact and he gripped my upper arms. "Talk to me, Elsa."

"Talk to _me_, Jack," I cried. "I know something's wrong! Why else would you suddenly need to go to the North Pole after a month of acting strange and refuse to talk to me? Every time I try to ask you about it, you get tense and doge it. Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Do you not feel the same way about me anym-" I was cut off by Jack taking my face between his hands and crashing his lips to mine. When we broke apart, he was breathing heavily.

"Don't even go there, Elsa," he said with a fierce fire in his eyes. "Don't. I love you more everyday and, as much as you can get on my last nerve and make my head spin around in circles, there isn't one single thing that I would change about you. Do you understand?"

The fire in his eyes was too fierce to deny. I nodded, feeling relief wash through me. At least it wasn't me. Jack relaxed at my nod and he let out a breath, his grip on my face loosening.

"I don't want to lose you, Jack," I whispered. "But I would let you go if that's what would make you happy."

"You won't lose me, Elsa," he answered, pulling me close into a tight embrace. "You're stuck with me for the rest of eternity."

"Thank you, Jack," I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. "I'm going to sleep for a while. Perhaps it will calm my nerves." I went to walk around him, but he took hold of my arms.

"Hey, just a minute." I turned to look at him and he waved his hands around a bit like I would to build a miniature ice figurine. When he pulled them apart, there was an ice ... glob that cracked and fell to shards. Biting my lip to keep from giggling as he looked down and scratched his neck in embarrassment. The majority of my amusement vanished and I smiled at him, taking his hands in mine.

"Start with snow and then freeze it into ice," I told him. "The snow is easier to shape than ice." I rolled my hands around and revealed a miniature ice figure of Jack and handed it to him. Smiling, he took it and I kissed him on the cheek before leaving to go to my bedroom, closing the door behind me.

Once inside my room, I used my powers to change out of my pants, boots, and shirt into a long, blue loose nightgown with billowing sleeves and ended mid-calf. My eyelids felt heavy from exhaustion. not physical exhaustion. I was just mentally and emotionally drained from attempting to figure out the reason behind Jack's behavior. A short break at my Ice Castle was exactly what I needed.

My bed had never felt so comfortable as I slipped under the blankets, my pillow never so soft. As I laid down my head, my eyes closed instantly. I shifted around for a minute or so, getting into a comfortable position. Once I found it, my mind immediately drifted into a restless sleep.

Oh, how I wish I didn't go to sleep.

* * *

**Oooh! What's going to happen?**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	3. Chapter 3: Ideas (Jack's POV)

**So ... I wasn't going to upload this chapter today, but all of your enthusiasm just kept pushing me until I wasn't able to resist!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Ideas (Jack's POV)**

So ... Olaf wasn't the gold mine of ideas that I had been hoping he was. Nonetheless, he was more help than North, Tooth, and Bunny had been. He suggested I take her back to Paris, but I turned it down. I had already considered it, but I knew that, as much as she enjoyed Paris, she enjoyed the small towns more. I also knew that if I took her to a small town, she'd be more focused on the kids than what I was trying to ask her.

He suggested the Castle of Arendelle and I scowled at the thought. Sure, it was her childhood home, but she didn't exactly have the best memories of childhood and I didn't want her to have any upsetting memories. The Pole or Warren or Tooth Palace wouldn't be any good. The other Guardians were always working, so that wouldn't exactly set the right mood.

That's pretty much how our conversation went. Olaf would have an idea and I would find a flaw in it and we would return to square one. I didn't mean to be picky, but this was not a question I wanted to ask again so everything had to be as perfect as possible. As for the ring, he was just as clueless as I was.

In the end, I walked back inside the castle, no closer to figuring anything out than I was when I left for the North Pole earlier today. The door to Elsa's sculpture room was open and I glanced in only to do a double take and stop in my tracks. Elsa was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall. Her hair was not in its typical braid and it fell down around her shoulders with her finders gripping at the strands as snowflakes fell down around her. Not good.

"Elsa?" She looked up at me and pushed some hair away from her face which was red, not in embarrassment, but frustration. "Are you alright?" I asked with concern as the steady snowfall ceased.

"Yes," she said, leaning her head against the wall as I sat next to her with my legs bents and my elbows resting on my knees. "I'm fine." I wasn't buying it. Elsa could be a convincing liar when she needed to be, but her powers were still strongly connected to her emotions. The unintentional layer of snow in the room betrayed her. I raised an eyebrow doubtfully and she smiled. "Honestly."

Watching her carefully, I gently brushed my knuckles against her cheek and a small smile briefly crept onto my face when she leaned into my touch as her eyes closed. "You seem frustrated," I said, my voice quiet as I readjusted my hand so that I was cupping her cheek.

"I told you, I'm fine," she replied, opening her eyes to make eye contact with me. Her hand covered mine. "Are you okay?"

Confusion seeped into my expression. Me? I wasn't the one making it snow indoors unintentionally. "Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been acting a bit off lately. It worries me."

Did she know? She doesn't _seem_ like she knows. But she definitely knew _something's_ up. I smiled to cover up my panic. "It's nothing, I've just had a lot on my mind. Don't worry about it."

She gripped my hand in both of hers, holding it close to her lips. I could feel her warm breath against my fingertips. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"Don't worry yourself," I assured. "Olaf helped me sort some things out." Not really, but I was thinking fast on my feet here.

Unfortunately, she wasn't buying it. _"Olaf _helped you?"

"Hey, that snowman of yours can be very informative," I laughed, mentally begging her not to press the issue.

"I'm always here if you need anything, Jack," she said with pleading eyes. "Anything at all. you know that, right?"

"I know," I said, truthfully. "And the same goes for you. _You_ know that, right?"

The smile I loved appeared on her face. "Yes, I know that." Smiling back at her, I kissed her forehead and stood up, missing the warmth of her hands as mine left her grasp. "Jack?" I turned around to look at her. She wrapped her arms around my neck, gripping my hair as she kissed me. Through the years, I have stopped being in shock whenever she kissed me. Now, it was instinct for me to pull her close in an embrace and return her kiss which is exactly what I did. Eventually, she broke the kiss and looked straight into my eyes. "I love you, Jack."

Hearing her say those words never failed to warm my hear and I doubt they ever will. I smiled widely at her, bringer her lips back to mine in a quick kiss. "I love you, too." I glanced at the statue she had been working on, recognizing it at Annalise. "That's looking good."

Looking at it as well, a grimace came across her face. "It's not done yet, but I think I need to take a break."

A flash of inspiration struck me as I looked at he ice sculpture. The ring could be made out of ice! "Can you teach me how to make things with ice?" If I made the ring, I wouldn't have to worry about stealing one and the Man in the Moon wouldn't have been able to save me from Elsa's wrath if she were to find out that I had stolen her engagement ring.

"Um ... sure. I can try. Why the sudden interest?"

Oh, how I wanted to slap myself. In my brief moment of genius, I gave Elsa another point of strange behavior to worry about. I had considered asking her to show me how she built such detailed statues before, but had never followed through with it knowing that I wouldn't have the patience. This, however... I would work on her ring for a century if that meant it would be perfect. I shrugged, something I've been doing a lot of lately. "No reason." She pulled back to look at me, but did not break away from my embrace.

"Jack, _what_ is wrong?" I went to tell her that nothing was wrong, but she pressed on before I could say anything. "You're tense and on edge all the time, you keep dodging my questions ... I've never seen you like this before and it worries me."

I tucked some hair that had fallen in front of her face behind her ear. "Nothing is wrong, Elsa," I told her. "Trust me."

"I do trust you, Jack," she said softly. "I'm just worried. You've been acting so odd and I can't help but wonder if ..." She stopped midsentence, looking down and biting her lip.

"If what?" I pressed. What was she thinking?

"Nothing," she answered, shaking her head. "I'm just being stupid. Forget it." I stopped her as she tried to walk away. If there was one thing I had learned from being with Elsa for the past five years, it was that she was many things, but stupid was not one of them. Stubborn to the point of insanity on some cases, but never stupid.

"Elsa, the last word I would use to describe you is stupid. Now, what are you thinking?" My concern grew when she wouldn't meet my eyes. I took hold of her upper arms in the hopes that she would look at me. "Talk to me, Elsa."

"Talk to _me,_ Jack," she cried out unexpectedly. "I know something's wrong! Why else would you suddenly need to go to the North Pole after a month of acting strange and refuse to talk to me? Every time I try to ask you about it, you get tense and doge it. Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Do you not feel the same way about me anym-" This was getting ridiculous and I kissed her before she could work herself up into a hysteria past the point of reason.

Obviously, I needed lessons in being inconspicuous. But Elsa was very perceptive and after being together for five years, we've become quite in tune with each other so I'm not sure that would have helped. I've been so stupid. I should have known that she's been keeping track of my unusual behavior. Why wouldn't she? And, of course, she had no way of knowing that I was scrambling for ideas of how to propose to her, so she started coming up with explanations of her own.

When I broke the kiss, both of us were breathing heavily and I kept her face between my hands, forcing her to look at me. "Don't even go there, Elsa," I told her. She had to know. "Don't. I love you more everyday and, as much as you can get on my last nerve and make my head spin around in circles, there isn't one single thing that I would change about you. Do you understand?"

She nodded and I could see relief in her eyes. My own relief flooded through me as I loosened my grip on her face and let out a breath I wasn't away I had been holding.

"I don't want to lose you, Jack," she whispered so quietly that I almost missed it. "But I would let you go if that's what would make you happy." I felt a small pang of pain in my chest at her words. I didn't want her to let me go. I wanted to keep her safe, in my arms, forever.

"You won't lose me, Elsa," I assured her, clutching her to my chest. "You're stuck with me for the rest of eternity." _If you would say yes._

"Thank you, Jack," she said, pulling away and running her fingers through her pale locks. She sighed. "I'm going to sleep for a while, perhaps it will calm my nerves." It sounded like she needed it from her outburst, but I wanted to see if I could make her smile before she went and gently grabbed one of her arms as she moved to walk away.

"Hey, just a minute." She stopped and turned to look at me and I rolled my hands around each other like I've seen Elsa do hundreds of times before to leave ice figures for kids, but my ice wasn't cooperating and my miniature Olaf statue came out to be a blob of ice that cracked and shattered. My cheeks heated in embarrassment as I looked down, rubbing my neck. Elsa's soft warm hands took hold of mine.

"Start with snow and then freeze it to ice," she advised me. "The snow is easier to shape than ice." She began rolling her hand around in their familiar, practiced pattern before revealing an ice figure of me. I took it from her offering hand, smiling, and she pecked me on the cheek before leaving the room.

I looked down at the figure in my hand and grinned, walking into my own room and setting it down on my dresser. My room had become quite different since she first gave it to me. It wasn't exactly filled, but there was a good bit of souvenirs to take up space. And I'm not talking about the type of souvenirs that would have had to be stolen from a store, either - the only time Elsa tolerates stealing is when it's in regards to chocolate. The woman is addicted to that stuff.

But anyways, the types of souvenirs in my room were gifts that kids gave me. Some of them would draw me pictures and, if I visited around Christmas, a few would even give me presents. Most of the presents consisted of new hoodies or shoes that I would never wear. Sorry, but if you go around barefooted for more than four centuries, shoes simply don't feel right to you.

Laying down on my bed, I started practicing my sculpturing skills, using the small nesting doll from North that now rested on my bedside table as a reference. Using Elsa's advice to start with snow, I was able to make the basic shape of the nesting doll. My fist shot upwards in victory. I then decided to detail it a bit and began etching the details from the wooden nesting doll onto the ice one.

_**"No!"** _I had been so focused on my work that I neglected to notice the sun starting to peak up form behind the mountains and Elsa's scream startled me so much that I dropped the ice nesting doll, causing it to shatter into a million pieces on the floor, but I didn't care. Elsa was in trouble. I didn't even bother to knock on her door before barging into her room. "No, _please,_ no!"

She was laying in her bed, the sheets tangled and twisted around her body like ropes. The sweat that covered her skin shone off of her in the first rays of the sun and dampened her nightgown and loose hair as she twisted around desperately, tears leaking from her eyes. Immediately, I raced over to her, shaking her in feeble attempts to get her to wake up. She wouldn't and my heart pounded harshly in my chest._ Come on, Elsa, wake up!_

"Elsa!" I yelled, taking her head between my hands when everything else failed. Her eyes flew open as her fingers gripped my wrists tightly. Fear and panic filled her ice blue orbs, but slowly faded as she realized that it had been nothing more than a nightmare.

Her heaving pants slowed to deep breaths and her body began to shake as she slowly moved into a sitting position. I released my hold on her face and sat next to her, waiting patiently for her to say something. She looked around, taking in her surroundings and getting a hold of herself. Locks of her hair, wet with her sweat, clung to her face as she pushed them away with shaking fingers.

"Jack," she said, finally bringing her gaze back to mine. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

I didn't even try to hide the roll of my eyes. Was she kidding me right now? Somebody _please_ tell me she was joking. She was the one screaming and crying in her sleep as she poured sweat and tossed around like a fish out of the water, but she was worried about waking me up. _Me._ A person who doesn't even _need_ sleep.

"You didn't wake me up, Elsa," I said. "Are you okay? Was it Pitch?"

"If it was, he didn't tell me." She licked her lips. "I'm fine, Jack. It's probably just stress."

Personally, I wasn't so sure. But I didn't see anything suspicious to argue with her about it. No black sand, unusual shadows, malicious chuckles. Nothing. However, that didn't stop me from lying down next to her and wrapping my arms around her as she fell back asleep. Frowning, I held her tightly. I might have to pay North another visit.

* * *

**Poor Elsa. First she has to deal with Jack being all crazy because he doesn't know how to propose to her and then she has to deal with nightmares.**

**Thanks for all of the encouraging reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	4. Chapter 4: Nightmares (Elsa's POV)

**Hi everyone! In this chapter, Jack cusses but it's very small and only once, so I hope you don't mind. The only reason why I have him cussing is because I can picture him doing it which I normally can't.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Nightmares (Elsa's POV)**

At first, my dream was just that. A dream. Jack was acting normally again, Olaf laughed in the green grass under his own personal snow cloud. Somehow, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven were there as well. We were all having a picnic. I was still Queen of Arendelle which, in my dream, still existed as it did when I was human. Everyone was talking and laughing, enjoying themselves as I amused my younger sister by making ice figures. All was well. Everything was as it should be.

Then it all changed and we were dancing at a winter ball. The nobles around us laughed and chatted as we made our way around the dance floor in a circular motion. I was dancing with Jack and he was smiling down at me. But when I caught sight of Anna over his shoulder, she wasn't with Kristoff. She was with Hans and Jack disappeared from my arms. I felt something encasing my hands and looked down. Gloves. Green gloves. I looked around and found myself at my coronation. Anna was yelling at me, yanking one of the gloves from my hand.

Fear trickled into me. No. I didn't want to be here. This was behind me. It's in the past. My powers were under control now. I didn't need the gloves anymore. I could change the course of the future. I tried to take the other glove off, but it was like trying to pull off my own skin and I couldn't. Anna was still yelling at me and when I sliced my hand through the air, icicles rose from the ground. The Duke of Weselton's voice whispered, _"Monster," _as the scenery changed and it was just me and Anna.

We were under the chandelier, but our conversation was different. She wanted me to put the gloves back on. Anger and betrayal coursed through me against my will. After all I sacrificed to keep her safe, she wanted to shove me back into a cage! I lost my temper and control of my powers, freezing her heart again. Only this time, she froze to solid ice instantly.

But then the setting changed again and she was alive, standing at the altar with Hans by her side. The sword on his hip was dripping onto the carpet beneath their feet, soaked with blood. Somehow I just knew it was my blood as he grinned maliciously over his shoulder at me.

However, the worst had yet to come because the wedding before my eyes melted away and I was standing in an unfamiliar, snowy landscape. Wind blew harshly around me, pushing the snowflakes into a blizzard. My bare toes touched something solid, getting my attention. Jack's staff. Jack's _broken_ staff. I spotted a figure laying in the snow a couple of meters away and rushed towards it. It was Jack, but something wasn't right. He was too still and his blue eyes were too pale. Too unseeing.

My heart shattered. For a split second, everything was still in my shock. Then I was shaking him. _**"No!"** _I screamed desperately. He souldn't be dead. I needed him. I loved him. "No, _please_, no." Not Jack. I threw my shaking body over his cold one, sobs wracking through my body.

"Elsa!" My eyes flew open and it was gone. Familiar, living blue eyes stared into mine. Out of reflex, my hands flew up to grip his wrists tightly as he held my face between his hands.

Coming back to reality, my breathing and heart rate slowed to a normal pace, but I was still shaking as I sat up with Jack remaining next to me. I was in my bedroom at my Ice Castle, soaked in sweat. It was only a dream, a nightmare. None of it had been real. Wet pieces of my hair clung to my skin as I pushed them back, my hands still shaking noticeably.

"Jack," I said, looking at him. I hoped I didn't wake him up. Our time at he Ice Castle was the only time we were able to sleep. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

He rolled his eyes with an exasperated expression on his face. "You didn't wake me up, Elsa," he said as if it were of little concern to him whether I actually did wake him or not. "Are you okay? Was it Pitch?"

"If it was, he didn't tell me." My lips felt dry and chapped and I ran my tongue along them. I hadn't felt Pitch's presence in my dream, but I hadn't exactly been looking for it either. It was possible that it slipped my notice. "I'm fine, Jack. It's probably just stress." No need to worry him.

Jack seemed unconvinced and glanced suspiciously around my room. There was nothing to suggest Pitch had come for a visit. Nonetheless, he laid down next to me as I fell back asleep, wrapping his arms around me tightly. Keeping me close to him.

This time, I didn't dream. There was no nightmares or dreams. Nothing, just sleep, and I woke up feeling refreshed. By this time, the sun was higher up in the sky. I moved to stretch and noticed that I was warmer than usual and my pillow had a heart beat. My head was resting on Jack's chest, who was currently asleep with his arms still wrapped around me. I smiled and snuggled closer to him, deciding that I liked waking up in his embrace.

Unfortunately, the brief movements I made as I woke up, roused him from his own sleep. One of his arms removed itself from around my waist as he groggily rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. His eyelids fluttered a bit before blinking open. They landed on me and he smiled, pulling me closer to him. I smiled back at him.

"Goodmorning," he said, his voice thick with sleep still.

My fingers closed around the fabric of his hoodie. "Goodmorning. How did you sleep?"

"Fine, but I think the real question is how did _you_ sleep?"

"Better than before," I replied, laying my head back down on his chest. "This is nice."

He hummed in agreement, pressing his lips to my hair. "Maybe we should make this a more regular thing."

"Perhaps we should," I said. His chest rumbled with his chuck as he rolled his hands around and made a minimalist ice figure of Olaf. I gasped, shooting up into a sitting position, taking it from the palm of his hand to inspect it closer. "You did it!" I exclaimed with excitement and pride, turning to look at him as he also sat up, grinning at me.

"I may have practiced a bit last night," he admitted. "You were right; snow is a lot easier to shape than ice."

"I had a lot of time to learn through trial and error," I said, placing the figure on my bedside table and climbing out of bed. "We need to visit Annalise today."

"Actually, Elsa, I want us to go visit North," Jack said, rubbing the back of his neck as I turned to look at him.

"What?"

"Just as a precaution to see if anyone else has seen anything."

"This is about last night, isn't it?"

"Look," he said, climbing out of bed to come closer to me. "I'm just worried about you. The fact that you had a nightmare is concerning."

Sighing, I sucked on my teeth and pursed my lips before answering. "I understand that, but there's no evidence that Pitch Black was here. All it was is probably stress."

"Elsa, you were screaming, pouring sweat, and crying. _Crying,_ Elsa. In the five years that I've known you, the only time I've ever seen you cry was when we first met and you couldn't control your powers." The volume of his voice had been rising and he took a deep breath. "Please, Elsa?" I looked at him with unwavering eyes, his own pleading. Begging me.

In due time, I relented. He wouldn't be comfortable until I agreed. "Fine, but we're immediately going to visit Annalise the moment we leave." He would just be impatient if I forced him to see Annalise before going to the North Pole. A blizzard surround me as I transformed my nightgown into my typical outfit of pants, boots, and the shirt version of my ice dress.

My hair was still down around my face and my finger set about styling the pale locks into my signature messy french braid. Jack stood behind me, watching my movements.

"I like your hair when it's down," he said. Our eyes met through the reflection of the ice.

"Really?" This wasn't the first time he had seen me with my hair loose (although those times were far and few between), but it was the first time I heard him comment on his preference. It's not like I took it down often. After all, when I was human and as Queen, it wasn't very proper for me to go walking around in public without my hair up in some sort of style. Yes, I know times have changed dramatically since then, but old habits die hard. Jack nodded his head and I smirked, finishing the braid. "I'll keep that in mind." I turned around to face him and ran my fingers through his white hair as I walked by him. "Lets go."

We flew to the North Pole and walked straight inside, the door clicking close behind us.

"North?" Jack called. "We need to talk!"

"Jack?" North said, poking his head around a corner. His eyes sparked and crinkled as he smiled when he saw me. "Oh, you finally did it! I told you that you would figure it out! Congratulations, I'm so happy for the both of you. You certainly think fast -"

"That's not why we're here!" Jack said loudly, his eyes widening in panic. He whispered something in North's ear and a look of comprehension washed over his face.

"Oh, er ..." He cleared his throat. "Well then. What is the matter?"

Personally, I wanted to know more about what North was saying before, but Jack steered the conversation clear of that route and diverted my attention.

"We think Pitch is back."

_"He_ thinks Pitch is back," I corrected him.

Concern filled North's eyes and his body posture changed dramatically. "Why do you think that?" He asked Jack.

"Elsa had a nightmare."

"There was no black sand, ash, ice or snow." I interjected, making sure North knew all of the facts. "No evidence that Pitch Black was involved."

"She was screaming, pouring sweat and crying," Jack added.

North motioned for me to sit down on a nearby couch and I did so as he sat in a chair across from me. "In your nightmare," he said very seriously, "did you see or hear Pitch? Feel or notice any signs of his presence in anyway aside from the actual nightmare itself?"

I shook my hand. "Not once." I gave Jack a look that said _I told you so_ to which he rolled his eyes.

"What happened in your nightmare?" North asked, regaining my attention.

My fingers started to fidget with each other, twisting and pulling as my gaze darted to different parts of the room. "A lot of things. Different stuff."

"Like ..." North prompted.

"I-It kept changing."

"Alright, why don't you just tell me what happened from start to finish in you nightmare."

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Well... At first, it wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream. jack and I were having a picnic with Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf." I hesitated and North nodded encouragingly at me. I didn't look at Jack. "And then it changed and we were at a ball at Arendelle's Castle, but it was the way it was when I was human. I was dancing with Jack and saw Anna talking with Hans over his shoulder. Then Jack disappeared and it was just like when I lost control at my coronation. Anna was yelling at me, grabbing my glove but the scene changed again to when she had come to the Ice Castle. Only, it was different. She wanted me to put the gloves back on and I got angry and shot at her with my powers. She froze to ice instantly. And then, she was alive. But she was standing at the altar, marrying Hans and his sword was dripping with blood. Somehow, I knew it was mine ..." I opened and closed my mouth repeatedly, debating whether or not to tell him about the final transition of my nightmare.

North sensed my hesitation. "Is there anything else?"

"A-After ... that, everything changed again. I was in a blizzard and Jack's staff was broken at my feet. When I looked up, I saw Jack lying in the snow a few meters away and ran to him but -" My breath caught in my throat, I took a deep breath and tried again, "but he was -" Tears filled my eyes and I flicked them away with my fingers, "but he was dead." I wiped some stray tears from my face. "That's when Jack woke me up. When I went back to sleep, nothing happened."

Something took hold of my hand and I looked to my side to see that Jack had sat down next to me, holding my hand. His eyes were anxious and I forced a smile to reassure him before turning back to North, who was stroking his beard pensively.

"Do you think Pitch was involved?" I asked, voicing the question that both Jack and I wanted to know the answer to.

"It's hard to say," North said as if he was still thinking. "Such nightmares _are_ Pitch's specialty and to have several of them in a row. ... You say that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room? No black sand or unusual shadows?"

"No," I confirmed, shaking my head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"And nothing in your sleep gave you any reason to suspect Pitch, aside from the nightmares."

"Nothing," I confirmed again.

He hummed and leaned back in the chair. Jack pulled his gaze away from me to look at North.

"But you said that these types of nightmares were his specialty," Jack said. "And she had several of them in a row! Pitch practically signed his name on the damned things!" I looked at jack and blinked, shocked. I had never heard him curse before, but he seemed too far gone to notice.

"True," North said. "But both of your explanations are passible. Strange things happen while a person sleeps if they're under a great amount of stress, Jack. But, as you said, it is also very likely that Pitch is plotting his next attack. I think that, until we find more information, we proceed as we normally would. However, be sure to be more cautions and look for any signs that Pitch is gaining power. Keep an eye on the sky; I will call you if I find something."

* * *

**What will they find, I wonder?**

**Thanks for all of the favorites, follows and amazing reviews!**

**Zerlinda**


	5. Chapter 5: Anxiety (Jack's POV)

**Chapter 5: Anxiety (Jack's POV)**

I guess I must have dozed off in the earl morning rays because the next think I knew, I was waking up to a body moving in my arms and a head lying on my chest. Rubbing my eyes before running a hand through my hair, I opened my yes to see Elsa looking up at me. I smiled and she smiled back. That was the best sleep I ever got.

"Goodmorning," I said. Almost non still counted as morning, right?

Her fingers gripped my hoodie as she smiled at me. "Goodmorning. How did you sleep?"

Typical Elsa. She's the one screaming in her sleep, but she wanted to make sure I slept well. "Fine, but I think the real question is how did _you_ sleep?"

She rested her head on my chest again. "Better than before. ... This is nice."

I hummed my agreement as I kissed her hair softly. "Maybe we should make this a more regular thing." Sleep was definitely better with her.

"Perhaps we should," she replied.

Chuckling, I started to roll my hands around each other, forming and shaping the snow until I finally froze it into an ice figure of Olaf. Elsa gasped and shot up as she took the figure from my hand, inspecting it.

"You did it!" She said, turning to look at my excitedly as I moved to sit up behind her with a grin.

"I may have practiced a bit last night," I said. "You were right; snow is a lot easier to shape than ice."

"I had a lot of time to learn through trial and error," she said as she placed the Olaf figure on her bedside table and climbed out of bed. "We need to visit Annalise today."

"Actually, Elsa, I want us to go visit North," I said slowly, rubbing the back of my neck. She froze and gradually turned to face me.

"What?" _Here we go._

"Just as a precaution to see if anyone else has seen anything," I added quickly.

"This is about last night, isn't it?"

"Look," I said, climbing out of the bed and walking closer to her. "I'm just worried about you. The face that you had a nightmare is concerning."

Her eyes narrowed slightly at me as she pursed her lips. "I understand that, but there's no evidence that Pitch Black was here. All it was is probably stress." She was obviously _not_ getting it.

"Elsa, you were screaming, pouring sweat, and crying. _Crying,_ Elsa. In the five years that I've known you, the only time I've ever seen you cry was when we first met and you couldn't control your powers." I noticed that I was raising my voice and took a deep breath to calm myself. "Please, Elsa?" She continued to look at me with stubborn, unwavering eyes for several moments before letting out a breath.

"Fine, but we're immediately going to visit Annalise the moment we leave." Using her powers, she changed into her normal outfit and began styling her hair into it's typical braid as I watched her.

"I like your hair when it's down," I admitted and she met my gaze through the reflections of the ice. I liked it when I was able to run my fingers through it.

"Really?" She sounded surprised and I nodded my head. "I'll keep that in mind," she said with a smirk, finishing the braid and walked straight by me. "Let go." I turned and took off into the sky after her from the balcony as we flew to the North Pole. We didn't even bother to knock as we walked inside, taking care not to step on any of the elves.

"North?" I called. "We need to talk!"

"Jack?" His head poked out form around a corner, his eyes sparkling as he saw Elsa with me and his eyes crinkled with a smile. "Oh, you finally did it! I told you that you would figure it out! Congratulations, I'm so happy for the both of you. You certainly think fast -"

"That's not why we're here!" I said quickly, panicking before he could say something else and give everything away. "I haven't asked her yet!" I hissed into his ear, flying up to his height so Elsa wouldn't hear.

"Oh, er..." North stuttered awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Well then. What is the matter?"

I cold tell that Elsa was curious as to what North was previously so excited about and I spoke before she could start asking questions. "We think Pitch is back."

_"He_ thinks Pitch is back," Elsa interjected, her attention successfully diverted.

"Why do you think that?" North asked, becoming serious at once.

"Elsa had a nightmare," I told him.

"There was no black sand, ash, ice, or snow," Elsa interrupted. "No evidence that Pitch Black was involved."

"She was screaming, pouring sweat and crying," I argued. Why did she have to be so stubborn?

North walked past me, motioning for Elsa to sit on the couch across from the chair where he sat himself. "In your nightmare," he said, "did you see or hear Pitch? Feel or notice any signs of his presence in anyway aside from the actual nightmare itself?"

"Not once," she answered, shaking her head and giving me a smug look. I rolled my eyes.

"What happened in your nightmare?" North asked.

At the question, Elsa suddenly became uncomfortable. She started to fidget with her fingers and she refused to make contact with me nor with North. "A lot of things," she said. "Different stuff."

"Like ..."

She got more nervous and ran her tongue over her lips. "I-It kept changing."

"Alright, why don't you just tell me what happened from start to finish in you nightmare," North said gently.

Elsa too a deep breath to calm herself and nodded. "Well... At first, it wasn't a nightmare. It was a dream. jack and I were having a picnic with Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf." She paused, still not looking at me as North gave her a small nod of encouragement. "And then it changed and we were at a ball at Arendelle's Castle, but it was the way it was when I was human. I was dancing with Jack and saw Anna talking with Hans over his shoulder. Then Jack disappeared and it was just like when I lost control at my coronation. Anna was yelling at me, grabbing my glove but the scene changed again to when she had come to the Ice Castle. Only, it was different. She wanted me to put the gloves back on and I got angry and shot at her with my powers. She froze to ice instantly. And then, she was alive. But she was standing at the altar, marrying Hans and his sword was dripping with blood. Somehow, I knew it was mine ..." She trailed off, her mouth opening and closing repetitively in her hesitation to continue.

"Is there anything else?" North pressed.

"A-After ... that, everything changed again. I was in a blizzard and Jack's staff was broken at my feet. When I looked up, I saw Jack lying in the snow a few meters away and ran to him but -" She stopped abruptly, taking a deep breath and I made my way to the couch to sit next to her, "but he was-" She stopped again and flicked a few tears away from her eyes, "but he was dead." A couple of tears fell down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away. "That's when Jack woke me up. When I wen back to sleep, nothing happened."

My heart tugged painfully in my chest at her tears and I took her hand in mine for comfort. She finally looked at me and smiled, but I cold see the effort behind it, before returning her attention to North as he stroked his beard in a pensive manner.

"Do you think Pitch was involved?" She asked.

"It's hard to say," North said slowly. "Such nightmares _are_ Pitch's specialty and to have several of them in a row. ... You say that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the room? No black sand or unusual shadows?"

"No," Elsa said, shaking her head. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"And nothing in your sleep gave you any reason to suspect Pitch, aside from the nightmares?"

"Nothing."

He hummed, leaning back in his chair. I looked at him. He couldn't _possibly_ be considering that this had absolutely _nothing_ to do with the Boogeyman!

"But you said that these types of nightmares were his specialty," I reminded him. "And she had several of them in a row! Pitch practically signed his name on the damned things!" Yeah, I curse on the extreme rare occasion. I try to avoid it since it's a bad habit to start with me working around kids all the time and such, but at this point I couldn't care less. If Pitch even _thinks_ about laying a hand on Elsa ...

"True," North agreed, pulling me out of my plots for revenge. "But both of your explanations are passible. Strange things happen while a person sleeps if they're under a great amount of stress, Jack. But, as you said, it is also very likely that Pitch is plotting his next attack. I think that, until we find more information, we proceed as we normally would. However, be sure to be more cautions and look for any signs that Pitch is gaining power. Keep an eye on the sky; I will call you if I find something."

We flew back to Norway in silence. Annalise was fast asleep by the time we arrived at her house as it was very late, so Elsa left behind a miniature ice figure to let her know that we had stopped by and we made our way back to the Ice Castle. She still did not say anything as she walked inside.

"I'm not going to apologize for being worried about you if that's what you're upset about," I said.

Elsa looked up at me and blinked. "What? No, I'm not mad, Jack. I would've done the same thing if you were the one who had the nightmares."

I let out a breath of relief. Don't get me wrong, Elsa and I have had our fair share of arguments and disagreements. Spend five years with a person and it's bound to happen. But that didn't mean I _enjoy_ them. They made my head hurt and impaired my ability to think straight. "Then what's wrong?" I asked, coming closer to her.

"Nothing," she insisted. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking so hard about?"

She looked at me with contemplating eyes. "If I tell you, then you have to promise to let me finish without you interrupting me. Deal?"

"Deal," I agreed with a grin, sitting cross-legged in the air.

"I don't think it was Pitch Black," she said. I opened my mouth to protests but she held up a finger. "Ah! You promised." Grimacing, I closed my mouth. "It just seems too soon for it to be Pitch. When the Guardians first came along, they managed to keep him away for hundreds of years before he returned. After that, it took another hundred years for him to come back. It's only been five years. This isn't like him. Pitch likes to wait until the Guardians aren't paying too much thought to him anymore. He wouldn't start attacking so soon. Not when all of us are still on guard.

"And he's arrogant!" She continued. I raised an eyebrow at this obvious piece of information, but didn't say anything. "If he _did_ cause me to have nightmares, chances are he wouldn't have kept himself hidden. He would have bragged, laughed, _taunted _me even."

My eyes followed her movements as she started to pace. "Where did you learn to think like that?"

A surprised expression came over her face as well as a blush. "I was being crowned Queen without a King, Jack. I had to learn how to strategize and part of strategizing is knowing the enemy."

"Well, if it wasn't Pitch and - theoretically speaking - it wasn't stress, who was it? Who else creates nightmares?"

"I don't know, but nothing points to Pitch Black. And, you, Jack," she said, suddenly yanking my staff from my hands, causing me to fall to the ground, "have become far too anxious to be the Guardian of Fun."

Glaring up at her playfully, I retorted, "Is it a bad thing that I worry about the woman I love when she wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs?"

"No," she admitted, "but I wasn't talking about last night, Jack. Ever since our anniversary, you've been beyond tense and you need to loosen up."

"How do you suggest I do that?" I grinned.

Smirking at me, she tugged her hair free of its braid and twirled my staff in her hands. "Catch me and find out," she challenged, taking off down the staircase.

Laughing, I came to my feet and went after her, forced to run without my staff. The front doors were open and I raced through them, stopping to look around at the bottom of the staircase. Elsa was nowhere to be seen. My brow furrowed as I continued to scan the mountain side, snow reflecting the moonlight.

Something cold and wet plowed into the back of my head, followed by a familiar laugh. Forming my own snowball in my hands, I turned around just in time to see Elsa duck being Marshmallow. Smart. I had learned the hard way that the snow monster did _not_ like to be hit with snowballs one day on the rare occasion that I accidentally missed my mark. It wasn't an experience I wanted to repeat, so I crept back up the staircase until I saw my target and launched my ammo.

Elsa turned around in shock and I managed to duck as the threw her own snowball which crashed against the bars of the railing. Racing back down to the ground, I gathered more snow in my hands and laughed when it got her in the back of her head. Her answering laugh rang through the cold air as her return fire smacked me in the face.

Our fight continued like that until the sun started to come up and we were soaked to the bone. Her loose hair was plastered to her face and neck, her face red from smiling and laughing so much and her blue eyes sparkling with amusement. Beautiful. We collapsed onto the snow next to each other, still laughing breathlessly. She rested her head on my shoulder which was covered by my soaked hoodie. I smiled down at her.

"Can I have my staff back now?"

She looked up at me, looking into my eyes and said nothing. Suddenly, the hook of my staff wrapped around my neck and pulled my lips down to hers. One of her hands came up to caress my face, enabling me to remove my staff from my neck and set it on the snow by us before pulling her closer to me as I returned to kiss. She moved to straddle my lap as our mouths opened up to each other and my arms made their way around her waist. Her fingers gripped the hair of the back on my head, spurring me on further.

When we broke apart, our breathing was heavier then before. She was still smiling as she rested her forehead against mine, her breath washing over my face. In that moment, I could've stayed like that forever.

"Are you feeling less anxious now?" She asked softly, fingers still playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.

I was, I realized, much less tense. In fact this is probably the most relaxed I've been since I started to think about asking her to marry me. My anxiety was gone. For now, at least. I smiled at her. "Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome," she said, standing up. "We should be going inside and drying off now." I nodded in agreement and also came to my feet, following her inside the Ice Castle.

* * *

**I figured they deserved to relax and have some fun after all the stress I've been putting them through and you deserved some fluff after the intensity of the past few chapters! I hoped you liked it so please review and tell me what you thought.**

**Thanks for everybody who has reviewed, favorite and followed this story/me.**

**Zerlinda**


	6. Chapter 6: Snowballs and Fun Times(EPOV)

**So, in the last chapter I got a lot of questions about when was Jack going to propose to Elsa. Well, I'm sorry to say that it won't be for a while. Like, near the end of the story. Remember, he still has to make the ring!**

**There's a lot of fluff in this chapter so enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Snowballs and Fun Times (Elsa's POV)**

By the time our conversation with North had ended and we finally go back to Norway, Annalise was fast asleep in her bed. As she should have been considering how late it was. Just to make sure she knew that we had stopped by and hadn't forgotten about her, I left behind an ice figure on her bedside table for whenever she woke up. As we flew back to the Ice Castle, my thoughts started to swirl around in my head. Processing and analyzing everything that had happened since my nightmares. Something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on what. It wasn't Pitch Black, no ... something else was off.

I had become so engrossed in my thoughts that my body had started to run on autopilot, landing and entering the Ice Castle without me noticing until Jack spoke.

"I'm not going to apologize for being worried about you if that's what you're upset about."

Looking up at him, I blinked and realized where I was. "What? No, I'm not mad, Jack. I would've done the same thing if you were the one who had the nightmares." It was true. I would have freaked out just as much as Jack did and, as much as he probably wouldn't admit it, he most likely would have blown it off just like I had.

Jack let out a breath, looking immensely relieved and I didn't blame him. I don't like fight with Jack, but it's practically unavoidable when you're with someone for so long. "Then what's wrong?" He asked, coming to stand a couple of meters away from me.

"Nothing," I replied. "I was just thinking."

"What were you thinking so hard about?"

My eyes narrowed at him. If I told him, then he wouldn't even let me finish the first sentence before interrupting and then it would turn into an argument and I would never get my point across. But, if I didn't tell him, he would simply continue to pester me until I did tell him and the results would be no different. "If I tell you, then you have to promise to let me finish without you interrupting me. Deal?"

"Deal," he agreed, moving so that he was sitting cross-legged on the air with his hands folded on top of his staff.

"I don't think it was Pitch Black." As I had predicted, Jack opened his mouth so say something, but I stopped him and held up a finger. "Ah! You promised." The look on his face told me that he wished he hadn't made the deal, but closed him mouth and remained silent. When I was sure that he wasn't going to say anything, I continued, "It just seems too soon for it to be Pitch. When the Guardians first came along, they managed to keep him away for hundreds of years before he returned. After that, it took another hundred years for him to come back. It's only been five years. This isn't like him. Pitch likes to wait until the Guardians aren't paying too much thought to him anymore. He wouldn't start attacking so soon. Not when all of us are still on guard.

"And he's arrogant!" I pointed out. Jack raised an eyebrow, but remained silent. "If he _did_ cause me to have nightmares, chances are he wouldn't have kept himself hidden. He would have bragged, laughed, _taunted _me even." I began to pace, muttering to myself, as Jack watched me.

"Where did you learn to think like that?" He asked. I looked at him in surprise, momentarily distracted from my thoughts about nightmares and Pitch Black. The look on his face told me that he was impressed and I felt my cheeks heat up.

"I was being crowned Queen without a King, Jack," I said. "I had to learn how to strategize and part of strategizing is knowing the enemy." No one would ever let me rule alone if I couldn't partake in battlefield discussions.

"Well, if it wasn't Pitch and - theoretically speaking - it wasn't stress, who was it? Who else creates nightmares?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "but nothing points to Pitch Black." His face was twisted in an anxious expression once again. I mentally sighed. If he wasn't going to talk to me about why he was so anxious, maybe I could do something to make him _less_ anxious. I walked over to him. "And, you, Jack," I said, pulling his staff out of his reach which made him fall to the ice floor below, "have become far too anxious to be the Guardian of Fun."

Catching on to my change in mood, he mock glared up at me. "Is it a bad thing that I worry about the woman I love when she wakes up screaming at the top of her lungs?"

The wooden staff turned easily between my fingers. "No, but I wasn't talking about last night, Jack. Ever since our anniversary, you've been beyond tense and you need to loosen up."

He grinned up at me. "How do you suggest I do that?"

One of my hands freed my hair from its braid, remembering his comment about liking it down as I smirked at him and continued to twirl his staff in my other hand. "Catch me and find out." And I raced out of the castle. Tense or not, Jack was the Guardian of Fun and if there was one thing I knew would get him out of this strange mood he's been in, it was fun. Especially in the form of a snowball fight.

I heard his answering laugh echo through the ice and quickly hid behind Marshmallow. Watching silently from behind my bodyguard, I waited until Jack had stepped off of the stair case as he continued to search the snow covered landscape for me with a confused expression on his face. A giggle bubbled in my throat, threatening to give away my cover, as I formed a snowball in my hands. His back was turned to me and I saw my golden opportunity, aiming for the back of his head and firing. The laugh forced its way past my lips as I quickly ducked behind Marshmallow.

Last time Jack hit Marshmallow with a snowball, it was not a pretty sight. But, honestly, Jack should have known better. After all, Marshmallow _was_ a bodyguard. Long story short: I had to stop Marshmallow from dropping Jack head-first over a cliff, so I knew Jack wouldn't be repeating _that_ mistake any time soon. I was actually expecting him to come charging at me from around Marshmallow, but he didn't and a ball of snow hit the side of my head as I was forming my own.

Jack had decided to climb about halfway up the staircase to launch his latest snowball and I threw my return fire, which he dodged as it hit the railing. I ran away from my hiding place as he reached the ground and got me in the back of my head. Laughing, I used his staff to form another snowball. This time, I didn't miss my target and he got a face full of snow.

By the time we finally stopped, both of us were completely soaked from the snow. His white hair was sticking to his forehead, falling in front of his eyes. I was still laughing breathlessly as I fell onto the snow next to him, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Can I have my staff back now?" He asked.

Still feeling playful, I looked up into his blue eyes, maneuvering the hook of his staff so that it pulled his lips to mine as one of my hands caressed his face. I released my grip on his conductor and felt him set it on the ground beside us before pulling me closer. As he reciprocate the kiss, I threw one of my legs over his lap so that I was straddling him. My fingers tugged at the wet strands of his hair.

I missed this. Just _being_ with him. For the moment, whatever had been bothering him this past month was gone from his memory, giving me back the Jack I knew. The Jack I love. Right now, he was not tense or nervous or acting strange. No, right now, he was doing exactly what I knew he would. Convincing me that the person I fell in love with was still there. That comforted me.

Eventually, we broke apart, breathing heavily as I rested my forehead against his, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck and gazing into those brilliantly blue eyes.

"Are you feeling less anxious now?" I asked, keeping my voice quiet so as to not ruin the moment.

He smiled at me. I loved his smile. "Yes, thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied, climbing off of him and standing up. "We should be going inside and drying off now." Annalise would be awake by the time we were presentable. Jack nodded and followed me into the castle.

My clothes felt heavy as clothes do when they're wet, restricting my movements, and I hurried to my room to get changed. Quickly, I removed the fabric from my body and pulled out a hoodie from my ice dresser. Jack didn't know, but I had ... _borrowed_ one of hisspare hoodies from his room one night. It had been the anniversary of Anna's death and, for some odd reason, it hit me harder than usual. Jack was helping North with the toys that night (he had invited me, but I declined as I still carried on the tradition of talking to my sister on her death day as she did for me) and I needed some comfort. So, I had gone into his room and slipped on one of his hoodies. I breathed in holding the fabric to my nose. It smelled like him. The garment was a bit big on me, the bottom just reaching the middle of my thighs and the sleeves completely covering my hands which forced me to roll them up several times, but Jack was taller than me, so that was to be expected.

Placing my wet clothes so that they were hanging over the windowsill to dry, I left my room in nothing but Jack's hoodie and my damp hair still loose. If Jack would let me make him an outfit, we wouldn't have to worry about waiting for our clothes to dry, but every time I've offered, he declined. I think he was worried that I would make him wear something that didn't suit him. Like shoes or pants that weren't frayed at the hems. His concerns were probably genuine, but since he won't let me make him clothes, we'll never know.

Walking out onto the balcony, I watched the sunrise change the color of the sky to multiple shades of pink, purple and blue. It was beautiful. Behind me, I heard Jack's bedroom door open and looked at him over my shoulder. He had changed into a spare hoodie of his that was dry, but still wore his only pair of pants that were still damp. Looking around, his eyes landed on me and traveled up and down my form before smirking and quirking an eyebrow at me as he walked closer.

"Where did you get that?" He asked.

"From your room," I answered, smirking back at him.

"I thought you were against stealing?" He teased, giving me a light shove.

"Only when it affects someone's business and revenue," I countered, returning the shove with a smile. "Why? Do you want it back?"

"No, that's alright," he laughed. His eyes roamed my body again. "It looks way better on you anyways."

A smile formed on my lips and I turned to look at the sky. We watched the sunrise together in silence, not even noticing how we moved ourselves so that Jack was standing behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist and I was leaning back into him. As we watched, however, the familiar colorful lights of the aurora borealis appeared.

I sighed. North was calling us. Looks like we won't be visiting Annalise and our moment ended. Why was it that the sweetest moments only lasted seconds compared to how long the worst moments last? using my powers, I put on my usual outfit and pulled Jack's hooding over my head, braiding my hair.

"Come on," I said, making a snowflake. "We need to go."

The look on his face told me that he wished our moment hadn't been so brief, but followed me as I flew to the North Pole.

* * *

**They are just the cutest, aren't they? Who else liked the idea of Elsa having and wearing one of Jack's hoodies?**

**In the next chapter, we discover who's responsible for Elsa's nightmares, but you're going to have to wait until the chapter after that to find out the details!**

**Thanks for the amazing reviews, favorites and follows.**

**Zerlinda**


	7. Chapter 7: Fabula Dica (Jack's POV)

**Hi everyone! So, in this chapter I have added a character that is completely my own! I hope that you like her and enjoy this chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Fabula Dica (Jack's POV)**

I tugged my hoodie off over my head as my bedroom door closed behind me. _That_ was a _grea__t_ snowball fight. Very clever on her part too, of course. Using my own center against me. Not that I cold complain. Taking one of my spare hoodies from my dresser that looked exactly like the one I just took off, I put it on. My pants were still wet, but I would have to deal with it - I don't have any spares of those.

My wet hoodie was thrown over the windowsill as I ran my fingers through my still damp hair, ridding it of some excess snow. Grabbing my staff from where it was leaning against the wall next to the door. I walked out again. Elsa's door was open and my eyes scanned around for her.

She was standing on he balcony, the first rays of the sun illuminating he edges of her form. My eyes traveled down and saw that she was wearing nothing but what looked to be one of my hoodies. the sleeves were rolled up and the bottom barely touched the middle of her thighs. Her hair was still down as she looked at me over her shoulder. She was beautiful.

Walking over to her, I let a smirk cover my face. "Where did you get that?" I asked, already knowing the answer."

"From your room." Oh, she was shameless. I shoved her lightly.

"I thought you were against stealing?" I said teasingly.

"Only when it affect someone's business and revenue," she answered with a smirk. I was definitely rubbing off on her and I loved it. Then again, she was probably rubbing off on me. "Why? Do you want it back?"

"No, that's alright," I assured her with a laughing, my eyes roaming back down and up her body again. Beautiful and very ... _very_ sexy. "It looks way better on you anyways.

A smile made her lips curve upwards as she turned her attention back to the rising sun. I did the same, enjoying the moment. Enjoying just _being_ with her while everything was alright. Moving so that I was standing behind her, my arms automatically went around her waist as she leaned into me. We watched the sun slowly climb up the sky, ascending over the mountain tops.

Everything was calm and peaceful until I caught sight of the extra colorful lights in the sky that definitely wasn't part of the sunrise. _Really, North?_ Elsa must have noticed it as well because she sighed and pulled away from me so that she could use her powers to change into her normal outfit. My hoodie that she ahd been wearing was taken off over her head and draped over the railing before she braided her hair.

"Come on," she said as she made a snowflake to fly on. "We need to go."

_Unfortunately,_ I agreed mentally as I followed her into the sky. It would be my luck that the best moment to happen between me and Elsa since I started thinking about proposing to her a month ago would be interrupted by North calling all of us to the Pole. _This better be good, North._

***_*_* At the Pole *_*_***

Bunny, Tooth, and Sandy were already waiting for us at he workshop by the time we arrived. Olaf was happily playing and chasing the elves as the red-cone dressed creatures scurried around and "made" toys. I saw Tooth get really excited when she saw Elsa with me. her eyes eagerly darted down to her left hand and the feathers around her face drooped in disappointment when she realized there was no jewelry on it.

"What did you find?" Elsa asked, walking past Sandy to look up at North.

Sandy looked at me with a ring made of gold sand and a question mark above his head. my eyes widened and I made quick slicing movements in front of my neck with my hand to tell him to shut up. I guess the others had told him about my intentions.

"You were right," North was saying. "It wasn't Pitch."

I perked up, my attention successfully diverted from the questioning dream maker. "Not Pitch?" I repeated. "How can you be sure?"

"I went and checked it out myself, mate," Bunny said, hopping forward. "Pitch is still stuck in his hole in the ground."

Elsa looked between the two Guardians. "Is that it?"

"No," North said. _"Someone_ is up to no good. Look at the globe." We all looked up to see lights flickering before going out all over the glove. I flew closer to it.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"We don't know," Tooth said. "But there might be someone who does."

"To the sleigh!" North cried. Bunny groaned.

"I think I'll use my tunnels," he muttered disappearing through the ground before anyone could protest. Elsa looked after him with a confused look in her eyes as I landed on the ground next to her.

"Bunny doesn't like flying," I explained, grinning. Her face cleared with comprehension and she followed everyone to the sleigh and climbed in. North snapped the reigns and the reindeer too off, jerking the sleigh forward as they ran through an icy tunnel.

"Wow," she breathed once we were airborne. She had seen the sleigh before, but had never ridden in it. North would offer around Christmas, but she always declined because of Anna's death anniversary.

"See what you've been missing?" I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Alright love doves, save it for later!" North called over the wind. "We have a job to do. To the Theatre!" And he threw a snowglobe in front of us.

"Wait, what?" I said just before we flew through the magic portal. "North! I don't think we have time to see a movie." He only laughed as the sleigh landed smoothly on the grassy ground. We were in the middle of a green forest, in front of a brightly lit wooden building.

"Come on, slow pokes!" North said, opening the door as Elsa and I remained standing on the sleigh with out mouths slightly open in wonder. We shook ourselves free of our stupor and followed North, Sandy, and Tooth inside where music was playing.

Inside, everything was surprisingly modern in spite of the somewhat old appearance of the outside. multiple computers typed hundreds of paragraphs every second with no typist, pens wrote words on pages so quickly that they were a blur with no writer, movies played on a hundred television screen so fast that the moves started and ended within minutes before playing the next movie.

We followed the sound of the music that was playing to a room that had smooth hardwood floors and one giant mirror covering one wall and a barre on the opposite. There was a girl, dancing gracefully in pointe shoes to music that was coming from a large stereo system in the corner of the room. She stopped her pirouette on a dime when she was us and bowed low, stopping the music with a wave of her hand.

North clapped as she slipped on a pair of shorts over her leotard and tights. She didn't look to be any older than her early twenties and her dark blonde hair was falling out of its messy bun as she looked at us with hazel eyes, drinking from a silver water bottle.

The girl wiped her brow with a towel before speaking. "North," she said. Her voice had a slight southern accent to it. "You came with visitors this time." She smiled widely, but not unkindly at me. "Jack! It's a pleasure to _finally_ meet you. And Elsa, I am so glad you're out of that castle. You two make a great couple."

"I'm sorry," I said, not wanting to offend the girl but seriously freaked out by how much she knew considering we've never met. "But do I know you."

Fortunately, she didn't seem angry at my question and continued smiling. "No, you're going to have to forgive me. Sometimes I get a little carried away with myself. I'm Fabula Dica, but you can just call me Dica."

She removed her pointe shoes from her feet and walked off, sipping on her bottle of water as we followed her. the entire place was like a giant library with shelves upon shelves of books lining the walls. pictures were being made with various forms of art; from charcoal to acrylics to water colors to pen and ink to pencil. Books were being written, illustrated, bound and magically placed on shelves with no visible support while musical instruments played by themselves all around us. Dica frowned at a painting as we passed it.

"Too dull," she said. "Make the colors brighter." The paintbrush immediately went to mixing colors and we continued walking. "So, what do you need to know, North?"

"Know?" North repeated incredulously. "Why do you assume I need to know something? Couldn't I just be here for a visit?"

"Don't patronize me," Dica chuckled, taking an apple form a nearby bowl of fruit on a counter as she passed and biting into it. "I'm not stupid. the only time you come here when you _don't_ need information is when you deliver me cookies around Christmas and it's not even December." She glanced back and me and Elsa. "Congratulations on becoming Guardians, by the way."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but I still don't know exactly who you are. How do you know all of these things about us?"

Crossing an arm over her chest, she leaned against a nearby couch and bit into the apple again. "It's my job to know: I'm the Storyteller."

"The Storyteller."

She nodded, not appearing to notice my disbelieving tone. "Yeah. Who do you think gives humans all the bright ideas to write stories about you all to keep the kids believing?"

My mouth just gaped open and close as Elsa spoke. "So all of those stories that people wrote about me being ..." she trailed off, but Dica sensed the rest of the question and winced, giving Elsa an apologetic look.

"Yeah ... sorry about that. Nobody believes in me, so I'm invisible and humans don't always interpret my signs the way I mean for them to be interpreted. Not to mention you didn't exactly leave people with he best impression of you with the whole _winter during summer_ deal which made it _really_ hard to changer their minds about you."

"Let me get this straight," I said, interrupting the conversation. "You're responsible for all of the stories and songs and moves and everything else ever made about us?"

"Pretty much," Dica confirmed.

"Why didn't you ever get a story done about me?" All of those years of not being seen ...

Dica looked at me. "I did. I've done stories about all of you; I recently finished writing yours and Elsa's story personally. some ideas simply take off more easily than others. I don't _make_ people believe, Jack. I just plant the seed, give the ... spark of inspiration that give life to the stories kids are told. Everything you see here around you tell a story; drawings, paintings, movies, music, dance, stories ... these are all ways people pass down their narratives for generations. That's what my names, Fabula Dica, means: The Storyteller," she stopped, then shrugged slightly. "More or less. I believe he literal translation is _the story says."_

"You're the Guardian of Stories, then?" Elsa asked, but Dica shook her head in a negative gesture.

"I'm not a Guardian at all," she said. "Very few get that honor. Nah, I'm just the person they come to when they need information."

"Doesn't not being seen bother you at all?" I asked. Personally, I wouldn't have been able to stand being cooped up in here all day, every day, no matter how amazing it was.

"No," Dica said, shaking her head again. "I'm an introvert; I like being alone. this is actually pretty much heaven for me. Being able to dance, sing, write and draw as I please... Ah!" Tooth had suddenly flown over and pried her mouth open to inspect her teeth.

"Excellent job with the flossing!" She said, flying away as Dica glared at her, rubbing a hand along her jaw and taking another bite of the apple.

"Must you do that _every time_ you see me?" She asked.

"Relax!" Tooth said defensively. "It's not like I see you every night. this is the first time in centuries!"

"And it's already gotten old," Dica muttered, then smiled when her hazel eyes landed on Sandy. "Hey, Sandman! Long time, no see."

Sandy smiled back at her and gave her a high five.

"Alright," Bunny grumbled. "Enough with the social niceties and pleasantries."

Dica rolled her eyes. "Bunnymund, a pleasure as always. Almost done painting eggs for the year?"

"Barely got started and I'm not getting any closer to finishing by standing here listening to you all chit-chat and make small talk."

"Then why don't you tell me what you want to know and be done with it?" She sighed. Bunny glared at her for a moment, but she held the eye contact without flinching and, eventually, he relented.

"Something is making the kids stop believing in us," he explained. "Whatever it is, it has control over nightmares, but it isn't Pitch Black. He's stuck under that broken bed wit the few nightmares he has left I checked it out myself."

"So ... someone who doesn't like you and gives people nightmare that isn't the Boogeyman," she repeated, sitting on the back of the couch with one leg crossed over the other.

"Exactly," Bunny confirmed impatiently.

Dica's eyebrows shot up her forehead and she took another bite of the apple. "You mean his brother?"

* * *

**Ooooh! You'll find out more about Pitch's brother in the next chapter. I'll go ahead and say this; there will be no love triangle with Dica, Jack, and Elsa. No romantic interest between Dica and Jack at all. She just gets excited when she actually gets to meet the people she writes stories about.**

**What did you think about this?**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! If you have any questions, ask them in a review or PM me and I'll be happy to answer them for you without any spoilers. ;)**

**Zerlinda**


	8. Chapter 8: Secret Sibling (Elsa's POV)

**Hi everyone! I'm glad that you all liked Dica. She uses a bit of language in this chapter, but you all can handle that, right? Are you excited to get to know a little more about Pitch's brother?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Secret Sibling (Elsa's POV)**

"What did you find?" I asked immediately, walking up to North the moment Jack and I arrived at the Pole.

"You were right," North said. "It wasn't Pitch."

"Not Pitch?" Jack reiterated. "How can you be sure?"

"I went and checked it out myself, mate," Bunny assured him. "Pitch is still stuck in his hole in the ground."

I looked between the two of them. "it that it?" While it was good to know that my suspicious about Pitch not being the culprit were correct, it seemed to be a minor piece of information to call all of the Guardians together for.

"No," North said. _"Someone_ is up to no good. Look at the globe." My attention was redirected to the globe where the millions of tiny lights that covered it were rapidly going out, one by one.

Jack flew up to the globe. "Who is it?"

"We don't know," Tooth said. "But there might be someone who does."

"To the sleigh!" North cried.

"I think I'll use my tunnels," Bunny muttered and disappeared through the floor. I looked after him. Was riding the sleigh that bad?"

"Bunny doesn't like flying," Jack explained to me in a low voice as we followed North to where a bunch of restless reindeer were pulling a bright red giant sleigh. Everyone climbed in and North snapped the reigns, spurring the reindeer into a gallop. The sleigh jerked forward and we took off.

Wind blew through my hair as we rushed through an icy tunnel, twisting and turning and even going upside down. yetis waved at us as we passed. Suddenly, we were on a platform and in the air. "Wow," I breathed. Yes, I could fly by myself, but this was different somehow.

"See what you've been missing?" Jack asked. I could practically hear the smug smirk on his face and rolled my eyes.

"Alright love doves, save it for later!" North yelled over the wind. "We have a job to do. To the Theatre!" The snowglobe he threw in front of us turned into a portal.

"Wait, what?" Jack managed to say before we flew through the portal. "North! I don't think we have time to see a movie." But North only laughed in response as we landed in front of a brightly lit, somewhat old looking wooden building that was in a clearing of a green forest.

Jack and I remained on the sleigh as Sandy, Tooth and North climbed off. The building was huge and towered over us as we stared up at it.

"Come on, slow pokes!" North urged us with obvious amusement at our reactions. His voice brought us back to reality and we followed everyone lese inside. Music cold e heard playing through the walls.

My head turned in every direction as I tried to take in everything around me. We passed hundreds of computers and televisions and desks on which pens were stuck to large stacks of paper with nobody there to control them. I followed the group robotically and was finally able to pull my attention away from y surroundings when we arrived at a room that looked similar to a dance studio where the majority of he music was coming from.

A tall, slim girl with dark blonde hair that was pulled back into a messy bun was doing pointe in front of a large mirror that covered an entire wall. she was dressed in a dark purple leotard and skin colored tights that provided little contrast against her tan skin. Noticing our reflections in the mirror, she stopped her pirouettes so that she was facing us, but with the amount of grace she did it with, you would think that's how she planned it.

North clapped as she bowed deeply before slipping on a pair of shorts over her leotard, silencing the music with a wave of her hand. She said nothing. Only watched us with hazel eyes as she drank from her silver water bottle and wiped some sweat from her brow with a towel.

When she did speak, her voice had a southern accent. It was soft, like a southern belle. "North," she said. "You came with visitors this time." She smiled kindly at Jack. "Jack! It's a pleasure to _finally _meet you." She turned her smile to me. "And, Elsa, I am so glad that you're out of that castle. You two make a great couple.

"I'm sorry," Jack said in a tone of confusion that mirrored how I felt. "But do I know you?"

The girl seemed to take no offense at the somewhat rudely phrased question. "No, you're going to have to forgive me. Sometimes I get a little carried away with myself. I'm Fabula Dica, but you can just call me Dica."

She removed her pointe shoes and exited the room, leaving us to follow her as she wake through the somewhat crowded walkway, sipping on her bottle of water as she went. Level of floors were exposed by the wooden railing that ringed around where the innermost wall would be, leaving the center of the building open like a courtyard. The outermost walls were nothing but bookshelves, completely filled with books, with the occasional door that lead to another room. we followed her down an iron, spiral staircase to the bottom floor.

"Too dull," Dica said, stopping as she frowned at an acrylic painting. "Make the colors brighter." And the paintbrush automatically started mixing the paint as we passed by. "So what do you need to know, North?"

"Know?" He sounded surprised. "Why do you assume I need to know something? Couldn't I just be here for a visit?"

"Don't patronize me," Dica smiled to show she wasn't angry. She grabbed a red apple from a bowl of fruit on a counter and bit into it. "I'm not stupid. the only time you come here when you _don't_ need information is when you deliver me cookies around Christmas and it's not even December. Congratulations on becoming Guardians, by the way," she added, looking back at me and Jack.

"I'm sorry," Jack said, shaking his head, "but I still don't know exactly who you are. How do you know all of these things about us?"

Dica crossed an arm over her chest and leaned against the back of a nearby couch, taking another bite of the apple in her hand. "It's my job to know: I'm the Storyteller."

"The Storyteller," Jack repeated in disbelief. Dica nodded, either oblivious to his tone or not bothered by it.

"Yeah. Who do you think gives humans all the bright ideas to write stories about you all to keep the kids believing?"

Jack's jaw dropped and he seemed up able to say anything, but I spoke as a thought occurred to me. "So all of those stories that people wrote about me being ..."

Her wince and apologetic look melted any resentment I might have had for her. "Yeah ... sorry about that. Nobody believes in me, so I'm invisible and humans don't always interpret my signs the way I mean for them to be interpreted. Not to mention you didn't exactly leave people with he best impression of you with the whole _winter during summer_ deal which made it _really_ hard to changer their minds about you."

"Let me get this straight," Jack said. "You're responsible for all of the stories and songs and moves and everything else ever made about us?"

"Pretty much."

"Why didn't you ever get a story done about me?"

"I did," Dica said. "I've done stories about all of you; I recently finished writing yours and Elsa's story personally. some ideas simply take off more easily than others. I don't _make_ people believe, Jack. I just plant the seed, give the ... spark of inspiration that give life to the stories kids are told. Everything you see here around you tell a story; drawings, paintings, movies, music, dance, stories ... these are all ways people pass down their narratives for generations. That's what my names, Fabula Dica, means: The Storyteller." She paused, shrugging her shoulder. "More or less. I believe he literal translation is _the story says."_

"You're the Guardian of Stories, then?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"I'm not a Guardian at all," she explained. "Very few get that honor. Nah, I'm just the person they come to when they need information."

"Doesn't not being seen bother you at all?" Jack wondered. We both had a hard time with our isolation, but Dica seemed to almost embrace it.

"No," she replied with another shake of her head. "I'm an introvert; I like being alone. this is actually pretty much heaven for me. Being able to dance, sing, write and draw as I please... Ah!"

Tooth suddenly pried her mouth open and I felt a flash of sympathy for her as the uncomfortable expression on her face. "Excellent job with the flossing!" The fairy said, backing away.

Dica rubbed her jaw and glared at the retreating fairy. "Must you do that _every time_ you see me?"

"Relax! It's not like I see you every night. this is the first time in centuries!"

"And it's already gotten old," the artist muttered, unmoved by Tooth's rationalization. Her hazel eyes landed on Sandy and her face brightened. "Hey, Sandman! Long time, no see."

Sandy smiled happily at the greeting, slapping the hand she held out in a high five.

"Alright," Bunny grumbled irritably, hopping forward. "Enough with the social niceties and pleasantries."

"Bunnymund, a pleasure as always," she greeted with a roll of her eyes. "Almost done painting eggs for the year?"

Scoffing in response, he replied, "Barely got started and I'm not getting any closer to finishing by standing here listening to you all chit-chat and make small talk."

"Then why don't you tell me what you want to know and be done with it?" Dica retorted in an equally irritated tone. Bunny glared at her and she held the eye contact without even a hint of a flinch. In time, The Guardian gave up.

"Something is making the kids stop believing in us," he explained. "Whatever it is, it has control over nightmares, but it isn't Pitch Black. He's stuck under that broken bed wit the few nightmares he has left I checked it out myself."

"So ... someone who doesn't like you and gives people nightmare that isn't the Boogeyman," she summarized, jumping up to sit on the back of the couch and crossing one leg over the other.

"Exactly."

Her eyebrows shot up as she took another bite of her apple, chewing on it for a while before saying, "You mean his brother?"

Nobody said anything as we all stared at her in disbelief, eyes widening at the new piece of information. It was as if time had stopped around us with us trying to process what Dica just told us so nonchalantly. Pitch Black had a brother? Since when? How was it possible that no one lese knew about this?

Dica, however, couldn't be more casual about everything. She kept munching on the apple, waiting for one of us to say something. Her hazel eyes flashed between the six of us with an expectant look. As it what she just said was the most obvious thing in the world. Tooth was the first one to recover.

"Pitch has a brother?" She repeated. Dica nodded her head as if we were talking about decorations.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "An older one. Distasteful fellow." She approached one of the numerous bookshelves and held the apple between her teeth as she used one of her hands to support her self and used the other one to reach for a book on a particularly high shelf. Her fingertips just managed to make contact with the spine of the desired book. Pulling it off the shelf, she kept the apple between her teeth as she flipped through the pages until she handed it to North and bit off another piece of the apple and she pulled it from her mouth. "That's him, Vengeance."

We all crowded around North to look at the book. The pages were yellow with age, but the ink of the picture was still visible. The facial structure of the man on the page was that similar to Pitch with a few more wrinkles. The eyes were a chilling yellow in spite of the normally warm color and the skin was a pale orange. His hair was longer, reaching his chin in clumps as if it hadn't been brushed in forever. It was a dark scarlet with scattered strands of black hair. The long black robe he wore looked like it was made out of burning coal.

I looked up at her. "What does he want?"

"His name is _Vengeance,_ what do you think? Probably isn't too fond of what's been done to his little brother."

"So they're close," I deduced.

"Not exactly," Dica said with a scowl.

"But, if they're not close, then why does he care what happens with Pitch?" Jack asked.

Dica shrugged. "He probably got bored Never a good thing when that happens - he'll look for the slightest reason to cause trouble."

"What's with all of the reds, oranges, and yellows?" Bunny asked. "He looks like he's on ..."

"Fire?" She supplied. "Yeah, he thrives on that stuff. That and blood ... and war. He loves fighting."

"He can control fire?" North said.

"Oh, definitely," Dica confirmed, still as casual as ever. "A bit ironic considering his brother likes the dark, but it provides an explanation on how he was able to control fire half a decade ago, yes?"

"So they have the same powers?" I asked.

"Mmhmm," she hummed, finishing the apple and tossing it into a waste can. "They have different areas of expertise, but possess the same abilities. Pitch prefers not to use fire as he likes the dark, but Vengeance finds great pleasure in using nightmares to spur people into an uncontrollable rage or fear that would eventually lead to a blood bath."

"If you make all of the stories, then can't you keep the kids from believing in them?" Jack said.

"Fairytales do not tell children that dragons exist," Dica replied. "Children already know dragons exist. Fairytales tell children that dragons can be killed."

"How do you know all of this?"

She looked at him with steady hazel eyes. "I told you, Jack: It's my job. I have to know everything about everyone so that I can tell their stories."

A loud thump sounded upstairs, making all of us look up. Dica immediately went to a bookshelf and started pulling at it. It slid open like a pocket door, revealing a small, closet-like space. She ushered us into the room hissing, "Get in there and _keep quiet."_ We followed her directions, cramping close together into the tight room as she closed the hidden door behind us. For the first few moments, there was nothing but silence and then we heard a voice speak through the wood. It was deep and loud like Pitch's, but didn't possess the smooth texture of darkness. It crackled cruelly like the flickering flames of a fire.

"Well, well, well," the voice said. "Fabula Dica, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure's all yours, Vengeance," Dica's voice replied, laced with venom. Vengeance only chuckled.

"Don't be like that. You must get so lonely being here by yourself all the time for all these years."

"If my only option for company is you, I'll gladly take solitude," Dica snapped.

"You don't mean that-"

"Get out. Go ... I don't know ... cause a war or something and leave me the hell alone."

Vengeance chuckled again maliciously. "You know nothing of Hell."

"I know that I experience it every moment you're in my presence." There was a pause and a sound of footsteps. "Don't touch that. Don't touch anything." She sighed in an irritated manner. "What do you want?"

"You know, you should try being more polite. Who knows? I might start to grow on you."

"Just like a cancer," Dica agreed. Vengeances tsked her.

"That temper of yours will get you nowhere."

"I don't have a temper; just a quick reaction to bullshit. Now tell me what you want so you can hurry up and get out of my home."

Humming in considerations, we heard Vengeance scrape something along the wood of the bookshelf that was the hidden door. "Very well. I just need some information on the Guardians."

"What about them?"

"Tell me about their weaknesses. And skip the basics, if you would - I already know about kids not believing from my idiot of a brother."

Dica gasped in mock amazement. "Are you telling me that you actually saw your own brother in ... how many centuries?"

"Please," Vengeance scoffed. "Don't think so little of me. You know how I am with revenge; I know every little act."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you but the Guardians have no other weaknesses. Why do you want to know anyways? It's not like you actually _care_ about Pitch."

"Of course not, but he thought of a war for poor, defenseless little children just sets my soul on fire. And since my pitiful excuse of a brother is too weak and stupid to do anything about it, I might as well show him how it's done."

There was another lapse of silence.

_"Right,"_ Dica said sarcastically. "You have fun with that. In the mean time... _Get. Out."_

Vengeance let out a deep sigh of false regret. "You know, Dica? Sometimes I think you forget who I am."

There was a humorless laugh. "On the contrary, _Vengeance,_ I know _exactly_ who you are. And you have precisely three more seconds to get the hell out of here before I stop pretending like that means something."

"Fine," Vengeance spat. "But this is not the last you'll see of me." We heard him walk off.

"Unfortunately," Dica muttered as she pulled the bookshelf open to let us out. "Bastard." She looked down at us as we toppled out of the closet ungracefully. "I guess you have a definite answer now."

"Thank you for protecting us," I said and she smiled at me.

"Hey, I may not be a Guardian, but that doesn't mean I _like_ those guys. Now, I hate to be rude, but you guys should go; I've got a lot of work to do."

She walked us out as Bunny left through his tunnels again. We all climbed up into the sleigh as she smiled and waved goodbye to us. I looked back at Jack who had one foot in the sleigh as he stared back at Dica. My brow furrowed and I placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked at me with startled eyes.

"Are you coming Jack?"

"Err..." he hesitated, glancing back over his shoulder as the door closed behind Dica. "Actually ... I'll meet you back at the Ice Castle. I want to ask her something."

"I'll wait here, then-"

"No!" The hurt in my eyes must have been obvious because he softened his voice. "No, you go on ahead and I'll be there soon." I continued to look at him doubtfully and he smiled. "Trust me."

I nodded and stepped away and North snapped the reigns, flying me back to the Ice Castle.

* * *

**Things are starting to pick up! What did you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it?**

**By the way, Vengeance is my own character unless by some amazing coincidence.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! If you have any questions, just ask in a PM or review and I'll be happy to answer them as soon as possible without spoilers.**

**Zerlinda**


	9. Chapter 9: Vengeance (Jack's POV)

**So ... I wasn't going to upload this today, but since I won't be able to upload anything tomorrow, I decided to go ahead and do it.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Vengeance (Jack's POV)**

"Pitch has a brother?" Tooth asked, breaking the silence of disbelief at Dica's nonchalantly said inquiry. She nodded her head just as casually.

"Oh, yeah," she confirmed. "And older one. Distasteful fellow." Using her teeth to hold her apple, she reached for a book on one of the higher shelves and barely managed to reach the intended books. Finding the right page, she passed the book to North and bit the apple again. "That's him, Vengeance."

Everyone gathered around North to see the picture that basically looked like an older, fire version of Pitch with longer hair. Elsa looked back up at Dica. "What does he want?"

"His name is _Vengeance,_ what do you think? Probably isn't too fond of what's been done to his little brother."

"So they're close," Elsa said.

"Not exactly."

"But, if they're not close, then why does he care what happens with Pitch?" I asked.

Dica shrugged. "He probably got bored," she said. "Never a good thing when that happens - he'll look for the slightest reason to cause trouble."

"What's with all of the reds, oranges, and yellows?" Bunny said. "He looks like he's on ..."

"Fire?" Dica finished. "Yeah, he thrives on that stuff. That and blood ... and war. He loves fighting."

"He can control fire?" North asked in disbelief.

"Oh, definitely," Dica replied nodding. How was she so casual about this? "A bit ironic considering his brother likes the dark, but it provides an explanation on how he was able to control fire half a decade ago, yes?"

"So they have the same powers?" Elsa said.

"Mmhmm," she said as she took the last bite of her apple before throwing the core into a trashcan. "They have different areas of expertise, but possess the same abilities. Pitch prefers not to use fire as he likes the dark, but Vengeance finds great pleasure in using nightmares to spur people into an uncontrollable rage or fear that would eventually lead to a blood bath."

My brow furrowed as a thought occurred to me.

"If you make all of the stories, then can't you keep the kids from believing in them?" Jack said.

"Fairytales do not tell children that dragons exist," Dica answered. "Children already know dragons exist. Fairytales tell children that dragons can be killed."

I mentally rolled my eyes. "How do you know all of this?" I asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

"I told you, Jack," she said. "It's my job. I have to know everything about everyone so that I can tell their stories."

There was a loud thump above us, making everyone jump and look towards the upper floors. Dica instantly started pulling at a bookshelf which, apparently, was a secret door and forced us all into the small space behind it. "Get int there and _keep quiet,"_ she hissed, closing the door so that we were left in total darkness. At first, it was quiet. But then a voice that was similar to Pitch's, but crackled like fire, spoke.

"Well, well, well," it said. "Fabula Dica, it's a pleasure to see you again." The voice was like poison. That had to be Vengeance

"The pleasure's all yours, Vengeance," Dica's voice spat back, confirming my guess.

"Don't be like that. You must get so lonely being here by yourself all the time for all these years."

"If my only option for company is you, I'll gladly take solitude."

"You don't mean that-"

"Get out. Go ... I don't know ... cause a war or something and leave me the hell alone."

Vengeance chuckled unphased by her hostile tone. "You know nothing of Hell."

"I know that I experience it every moment you're in my presence." Heavy footsteps sounded. "Don't touch that. Don't touch anything." Her irritated sigh was more of a growl. "What do you want?"

"You know, you should try being more polite. Who knows? I might start to grow on you."

"Just like a cancer," Dica quipped.

"That temper of yours will get you nowhere," Vengeance tsked her.

"I don't have a temper; just a quick reaction to bullshit." I had to hand it to her, the girl had an answer to everything. "Now tell me what you want so you can hurry up and get out of my home."

There was a scrape along the hidden door as Vengeance hummed. "Very well. I just need some information on the Guardians."

"What about them?"

"Tell me about their weaknesses. And skip the basics, if you would - I already know about kids not believing from my idiot of a brother."

Dica did a mock-gasp. "Are you telling me that you actually saw your own brother in ... how many centuries?"

"Please," Vengeance said with a contempt scoff. "Don't think so little of me. You know how I am with revenge; I know every little act."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you but the Guardians have no other weaknesses. Why do you want to know anyways? It's not like you actually _care_ about Pitch."

"Of course not, but the thought of a war for poor, defenseless little children just sets my soul on fire. And since my pitiful excuse of a brother is too weak and stupid to do anything about it, I might as well show him how it's done."

There was pause of silence before Dica spoke again.

_"Right,"_ she said sarcastically. "You have fun with that. In the mean time... _Get. Out."_

Vengeance breathed a heavy sigh of mock-regret. "You know, Dica? Sometimes I think you forget who I am."

Dica let out a humorless laugh. "On the contrary, _Vengeance,_ I know _exactly_ who you are. And you have precisely three more seconds to get the hell out of here before I stop pretending like that means something."

"Fine," he spat. "But this is not the last you'll see of me." There were more quick and angry footsteps as he walked off.

"Unfortunately," Dica muttered, pulling the bookshelf-door open. "Bastard." We toppled out of the small space and she looked down at us with one eyebrow raised. "I guess you have a definite answer now."

"Thank you for protecting us," Elsa said gratefully. Dica smiled at the recognition.

"Hey, I may not be a Guardian, but that doesn't mean I _like_ those guys. Now, I hate to be rude, but you guys should go; I've got a lot of work to do."

Walking us out to the sleigh as Bunny returned to the Warren through his tunnels, Dica waved and smiled her salutations. I stopped as I was about to climb on after Elsa as a thought crossed my mind. Maybe she could help me?

"Are you coming Jack?" Elsa asked, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. I was startled and looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Err..." I looked back to see the door closing behind Dica and decided to go for it. "Actually ... I'll meet you back at the Ice Castle. I want to ask her something."

"I'll wait here, then-"

"No!" I stopped her quickly. Hurt flashed in her eyes and guild flowed through me. "No, you go on ahead and I'll be there soon." She didn't look convinced, so I forced a smile. "Trust me."

She nodded and I stepped back as the sleigh took off to the sky. I continued to watch the silhouette until it disappeared through a portal before rushing back inside the Theatre. "Dica?" I called and she appeared in a doorway, walking up to me.

"Jack?" She said. "I thought you left with the others."

"I need help," I said.

"Obviously if you're still here," she retorted sarcastically, but I ignored her comment.

"I want to propose to Elsa," I said.

"That's _great,_ Jack!" She said through a wide smile that was reflected in her eyes. "Do you have the ring yet?"

"...No," I admitted, but rushed on before she could say anything. "Look, could you just tell me how I'm going to propose to her? Because I have no clue, but I thought since you know what's going to happen ..." My sentence trailed off as she was already shaking her head.

"Sorry, Jack, but I think you misunderstood me," she said. "I only know people's pasts. The future is constantly changing as people make choices and, therefore, can't be told until it is the past."

"Oh," was all I could say, my head dropping.

Dica took pity on my and gave a soft smile. "Come on," she said, jerking her head back towards the sitting area. "I'll help you brainstorm some ideas." I looked up hopefully and sat on the couch while she say Indian-style on the recliner. "Okay, lets start with the setting. What places have significance to you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you know already?"

She rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not going to be the only one thinking here if you want my help."

"Fine, fine," I surrendered and thought. "We met at a park, had our first kiss close to a lake we were skating on, Paris was the first place I took her after she became a Guardian, and we said our first 'I love you's at the Ice Castle in her bedroom." Dica shook her head at each suggestion.

"You go the the Ice Castle often and it would be difficult to decorate it while keeping her oblivious in conspicuously," she said. "She doesn't really strike me as a 'Paris Girl' and the park would be too distracting with the kids... Why not the lake?"

"Olaf almost drowned there," I said.

"That's right," she muttered. "Hmm ... what's a place that has some meaning to you two, but probably hadn't thought about it years?"

"Um..." I thought, but nowhere came to mind. "I don't know."

"Well, when you find that place, you'll know where to propose to her. And the time. Now, as for the ring..."

"I'm planning on making it," I informed her.

"That's _perfect,_ Jack! It'll be completely custom for her and you won't have to give up anything or steal."

"But I don't know what to make it look like," I groaned.

"Okay, this is when we use the process of elimination," Dica said patiently. "Would she prefer something elaborate or simple?"

"Simple," I answered promptly. The thought of Elsa wearing a ring with lots of swirls and engraving seemed our of place.

"Big or small?"

"Probably small." Again, can't picture Elsa wearing a ring that took up half of her finger.

"Well, when I'm trying to make something for someone, I find that most of my inspiration comes from when I'm just thinking about them. Try not thinking about ring. Just think about her and something will spark you inspiration. You know, like how you came up with the idea to make the ring. You're on the right track, Jack," she encouraged me. "But you should probably be getting home if you don't want to worry Elsa even more; it'll take a while to get to Norway."

"Where is this place?"I asked curiously.

"Germany." I raised an eyebrow because her accent wasn't ... well ... _German._ She saw my expression and laughed. "I lived in Georgia in the United States for a bit a while back. The accent just stuck. Now go."

Deciding to take her word for it, I too k off to Norway. The sleigh was still on the balcony when I arrived at the Ice Castle and my brow furrowed in confusion. North ran out to me as I landed with a fearful look on his face. This can't be good. My eyes immediately started searching for Elsa, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Jack," North began, but I cut him off.

"Where's Elsa?"

"In her bedroom," he grabbed my arm to stop me as I went to run to the directed room. "Jack, I'm sorry. I don't know how it happened. One moment she was fine and then she fainted." He gripped my arm tighter when I moved to run again. "Jack ... she won't wake up."

* * *

**I know, I'm evil. Please don't hurt me! Things are getting really intense and I'll be honest ... the next update probably won't be until Monday at the earliest. What did you think?**

**Also, I have an opportunity for you! I know that everyone is dying to see what Elsa's ring is going to look like and found a picture of exactly what I wanted. PM me where you think Jack is going to propose (because I've already picked that out too) and if you guessed correctly then I'll message you back with the link to the picture! I'll give you a HINT: the place is in my story, the Snow Queen.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows! If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in a review or PM and I'll be happy to answer them without any spoilers.**

**Zerlinda**


	10. Chapter 10: Back Again (Elsa's POV)

**Chapter 10: Back Again (Elsa's POV)**

North landed the sleigh on the balcony of the Ice Castle and I climbed off. The other followed me, chatting, but my mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Jack to make sense of what they were saying. Again, Jack was acting strange. I had hoped that I had finally pulled him out of it after the snowball fight, but I was wrong. What did he need to ask Dica about? Was it the same thing he had to talk to North about? Why was he so against me waiting there for him?

I walked into my bedroom, not really caring that I was being a bad hostess at the moment. I needed to be away fro the chatter to think in peace. The clothes that I had draped over the windowsill earlier were dry and I folded them and put them away. Closing the dress drawer, I turned on my heel to rejoin the others. Their smiling faces were the last things I saw before everything went black.

When I wonk up, my head was burning with pain. Opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings and realized that I wasn't awake. I knew this because, right before me, was little Anna. She was lying, unconscious on the ground. This was a nightmare. I pinched myself, tried blinking, _everything_ to wake myself up. But no matter how hard I tried, the horrible scene remained. A sardonic chuckle that reminded me of the flickering flames of fire made me freeze. I didn't need to turn around to know who would be behind me.

"Hello, _Elsa,"_ Vengeance said. "It's nice to meet you after all this time. I've heard so many things about you."

"And I, you," I replied stiffly, smelling his smoke as he waked closer to me.

"Really?" He sounded interested. "Fascinating. How did you hear about me when the Guardians don't even know I exist?"

"They know you exist," I said, forcing out a harsh laugh. "Why wouldn't they?"

"Because my actions do not usually affect them," he replied, his tone becoming bored. "You see, I usually target adults; they're so much more fun. They're the ones who actually go off into battle and start wars that gives me decades worth of bloodshed. It wasn't until recently that I discovered the pleasure in doing the same to children."

"I guess you have your brother to thank for that," I smirked, knowing he would despise the comment. His answering scoff confirmed my prediction.

"Do not speak to me of my brother," he spat. "You will find that we are nothing alike. I am much more practiced and efficient in my ways."

"Is that so?" I questioned in a carefully uninterested tone.

"Oh, yes. You see, my brother would have taken you away and locked you up in a little cage instead of using what he was _made_ with. You remember how well _that_ plan worked out for him, I'm sure. He is weak. After one little avalanche of snow, he doesn't want to use fire anymore ...

"But I? _I_ know better. You and your precious Frost boy are the only Guardians who aren't affected by children's beliefs. But, instead of locking you away from Frost, I know the best way to detain him is to make him watch you suffer."

"So, what? You're going to give me nightmares whenever I go to sleep?" Not wise since I don't even _need_ to sleep.

Vengeance moved to stand in front of me, a wide sadistic smile on his face. "Something like that," he said. "I'm sure you've figured out that this-" he gestured around him, "- is nothing more than a nightmare, with you being so clever and all." I bit my tongue at the patronizing remark as he continued his lecture. "But, as it so happens, you won't be waking up."

"What?" I breathed, my shock accidentally breaking through my façade.

_"Yes,"_ Vengeance said gleefully. "You're asleep right now and, while poor Jack sits by your side helplessly, you'll be stuck here reliving these nightmares for, oh, the rest of eternity. And, no," he added. "You do not get to wake up with true love's kiss."

The scene changed and my disastrous coronation party played before my eyes. I shook my head frantically as panic set in. "This isn't happening," I muttered. "It's not real. It's only in my head." Vengeance laughed again, this time with amusement.

"Of course it's in you head," he said. "But why should that mean it isn't real?" He gripped my chin between his fingers harshly, forcing me to look into his yellow eyes. "Perception is reality and, from now on, _this_ will be your perception. So get used to it ... or don't. I like feeling your fear."

I jerked my chin away, glaring at him. "I will wake up and when I do, you're going to end up just like your brother."

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "If that's what you want to continue believing. But, trust me, you won't be waking up. Not with the piece of burning nightmare ash I sunk into your heart. The Guardians have already tried waking you up and failed." My coronation melted away to show me myself laying in my bed in my nightgown with my hair loose. Tooth and Sandy were gathered around me as North paced the room. His head shot up and he rushed out. "Oh, that must be Jack ..." And, sure enough, Jack ran into the room moments later.

At first, he just stared at me before he went into hysterics. He climbed onto the bed, shaking my sleeping form, but I didn't feel anything. He was yelling, but it was as if the scene was on mute. North pulled him back as Jack fought viciously. The look on his face was one of utter despair as tears fell from his eyes. My heart broke at the sight and it occurred to me that I had never seen him cry.

Eventually, Jack fell to his knees by the bed, clutching my left hand and letting his head drop to the mattress as sobs racked through his body. The other Guardians slowly made their way out of the room to leave Jack alone with my unresponsive form. As the scene faded away, I blinked and felt something wet fall to my cheek. I was crying.

"See?" Vengeance said smiling from ear to ear without the slightest hint of mercy. "You're not waking up. Like I said: I'm much more efficient than my brother."

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper. "You don't care about what happened to Pitch. Why go through all of this trouble?"

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart," Vengeance said with a contempt laugh. "I wouldn't go through so much trouble if it _was_ trouble, but, the truth of the matter is, this has been entirely too easy. Further proof of my brother's incompetence."

"But _why?"_ I repeated.

Vengeance shrugged his shoulders. "I've gotten a bit bored and, who knows, a world without the Guardians might prove to produce more violent generations. Perhaps we'll have World War III or a genocide."

"You're a sick bastard," I spat in disgust.

"I will take that as a compliment," he chuckled. A flash of movement in my peripheral vision caught my eyes. A lock of my hair had turned black. I grabbed it frantically and inspected it closer.

"What is this?" I demanded.

"Just a minor side effect," he answered nonchalantly. "The longer you're trapped here, the more time my ash has to setting in your body, making it even less likely that you will ever wake up." His eyes met mine. "Muck like how when you froze your sister's heart."

As the memory played through my head, so did it around us. We were standing under he chandelier as I lost control. I pressed my lips together in a firm line. "That's not going to work. I've put it behind me."

"Oh, but you are afraid of something," he said. "Nobody's ever completely fearless. I wonder how long your little boyfriend can take of watching you scream and cry in your sleep before he breaks himself beyond repair?" Vengeance laughed at my sharp intake of breath. "It's just too easy! By keeping you in this state, you're powerless and Frost detains himself and when no kids believe in the Guardians anymore I will be invincible."

"I _will_ wake up," I argued determinedly, but felt more of my hair change color as I spoke. I doubted my own words. Vengeance sensed it.

"Highly doubtful," he said. "There's only one way for you to wake up and, as I said, it's not a true love's kiss. Despite the lovely little stories that Dica writes, life is not a fairytale. True love does not conquer all." He paused, watching me carefully. "That's how you found out about me, isn't it? That Storyteller always cooperated with the wrong people. No matter... I was going to reveal myself anyways.

"Speaking of love, what do you see in that boy? Jack Frost, isn't it?" I said nothing. Only glared at him as he waked slowly around me. "You never did find out what caused his sudden strange behavior, did you?" Those pale yellow eyes cut over to mine. "No, you didn't. That's a pity. Oh, well, I guess you'll never find out."

"Tell me how to wake up," I demanded, my voice strong in spite of the cold chill of fear trickling down my spine. Vengeance laughed, his head thrown back with the sound.

Now where would the fun be if I told you that?" He asked. "If you're so confident that you'll wake up, surely you can figure it out by yourself ... eventually. But the time you do - _if_ you do - it'll be too late. Perhaps your boyfriend will become so enraged at the sight of me that he'll fight."

Fear was replaced by a burning rage that boiled through my veins. I saw red at the implication of his intent to harm Jack and didn't even try to stop the ice that pushed from my had towards the fiery man. The ice melted before it made it halfway to its destination with a lazy flick of his hand. He yawned as if he was bored, continuing to deflect my attacks effortlessly.

"You disappoint me, Elsa," he said when I stopped. "I expected more of a challenge from the Snow Queen. Then again, I suppose you can't do much when my fire melts your ice."

MY lips pressed tightly together at his mocking tone. Deciding that I would finish him, I began forming a large ice cube above his head before letting it drop directly on top of him. Suddenly, his low chuckle sounded from behind me and I whirled around only to be thrown back when he struck me with his own powers. I fell to my knees, feeling pain in my chest as gloves started to grow on me, encasing my hands. Trying to pull them off proved to be useless and Vengeance laughed again at my failed attempts.

"Silly girl," he mocked. "You can't get rid of me _that_ easily. I'm in your head. I live in your thoughts of anger, pain and fear. And that's the way it's going to be for a _very_ long time, so I suggest you get use to it. Forget about your lover boy - you'll never see him again. Not in a good light anyways. Look around you - this ... _this_ is your life now. Your home."

"No," I argued defiantly, coming to my feet and forcing the horrid gloves out of my mind. My teeth gritted together as the burning coal seared painfully into my hands.

"No?" Vengeance questioned, raising an eyebrow at me in mild interest.

"No," I repeated more firmly. "This is my prison. My torture. And I will _not_ surrender to you."

He shrugged as if my declaration was of little consequence to him. "It's your choice, I suppose. It doesn't really make a difference to me either way. As long as you're stuck here, my work is done." His smile made my stomach turn. "Goodbye, Elsa ... for now." And he turned his back to me, disappearing into he darkness.

For a moment I just stared in shock and felt more of my hair transformed into inky black. The fury hit me hard and I screamed, running after him only to have the complete black around me swirl and change until I was standing in the middle of a courtroom. I was being sentenced to death for the murder of my own sister. Such a think was absurd and I tried to say so but he dream figures around me wouldn't listen. They only spat insults in my face.

I tried to remind myself that none of this was real. It wasn't actually happening. It was only a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare. But the guards' grips on my upper arms felt so rough and solid that I was finding it increasingly difficult to convince myself of what I knew to be true as they dragged me to the dungeons and threw me into my own private cell, locking it shut behind me before marching away.

My hands gripped the cold iron bars, pulling at them in failing attempts to make them disappear and prove to myself that I wasn't really locked in a cell in the dungeon of my own castle. Eventually, the skin on my hands wore away and I stepped back from the bars and curled into a ball in the far corner of my cell. I stared down at my bleeding hands in defeat.

At my surrender, even more of my hair turned black and the prison melted away. I knew nothing. I didn't know what was going to be next, how to escape or even the reason behind Jack's behavior. But I did know one thing. One thing that was absolutely certain at my next nightmare formed around me.

I needed to wake up.

* * *

**I know, I know, another cliffy. That opportunity for you to see the ring that Jack is going to make is still available. In case you've forgotten, you have to PM me and correctly guess where Jack is going to propose to Elsa and, if you get it right, I will send you the link to the ring. I've had lots of people guess correctly, so it's not impossible! The HINT was that the place is in my previous story, the Snow Queen.**

**What did you think? I love to know what your thoughts are on each chapter, so please don't be afraid to review or PM me! If you have any question, feel free to ask and I will be happy to answer them without any spoilers.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	11. Chapter 11: Late Planning (Jack's POV)

**Chapter 11: Late Planning (Jack's POV)**

I don't know how long I just stared into North's eyes, trying to process what he just said. What did he mean Elsa _won't wake up?_ How could he not know what happened? Then, as if everything was put on fast forward, I jerked my arm out of his grip before he cold stop me and ran to the bedroom. Tooth and Sandy looked up at me as I stopped short my eyes looking at Elsa's too still sleeping form in the bed.

"I changed her clothes and took her hair down," Tooth said softly. "I thought she'd be more comfortable..."

Her words brought me out of my shock and I jumped onto the bed next to her _"Elsa!"_ My hands gripped her arms tightly, shaking her, hoping beyond hope that her eyes would open. They didn't and North took hold of my torso, pulling me back as my attempts to wake her up became more aggressive with every failure. "No, Elsa! _Wake up!"_ Salt water burned my eys and I didn't care as tears slid down my cheeks. I fell to my knees, clutching her hand in both of mine as if it were my only life line. The only thing holding me to this earth. "Please wake up," I begged quietly, but she only laid there. Limp and unresponsive. If it weren't for the steady movement of her chest which showed that she was breathing, I would have thought she was dead.

My head fell to the mattress, my body shaking with uncontrolled grief as I heard the others leave the room and close the door behind them. I cried until my eyes were so dry that I couldn't possibly produce another tear. Looking up at her face, I gently brushed some hair out of her face but grew alarmed at the sight of her hair.

"North," I called. My throat was rough and thick form my sobs, but he thankfully heard me and entered the room. I didn't even have to point it out. After all, a lock of pure black hair stand out like a sore thumb when the rest of it is pale blonde.

"Jack," he said. I didn't bother to look up at him, my sole attention remaining only on Elsa. "You stay here with her. I will go see if Dica has any information."

A slight nod of my head was all he got in response. It was a good thing he didn't expect me to go because I wasn't leaving Elsa's side for anything less than revenge. I heard North leave and the sleigh take off a minute or so later.

Mindlessly, I waved my staff to create a simple chair next to the bed for me to sit in. I continued to stroke her face with my fingers. Why wouldn't she wake up? What happened? Letting out a deep sigh, I rolled my hands around, shaping he snow between them before freezing it into a solid ice nesting doll. Concentrating, I ran my thumb over its surface lightly and was pleasantly surprised to see that a line had formed, much like the lines Elsa used to detail her ice sculptures. But my success did little to brighten my depressed mood as I kept detailing her nesting doll. I drew her braid over one of her shoulders as it nearly always was, and a snowflake between her hands. Very carefully, I started on the face by giving her the smirk that she had grown so fond of.

So completely wrapped up and involved in my work, I didn't even notice that another presence was in the room until a voice spoke, startling me so much that I jumped and almost dropped the nesting doll. Thankfully, I managed to catch it before it shattered on the floor and glared at Dica over my shoulder who had only said my name.

"That's looking good," she said, nodding at the doll. "Good job." She had changed out of her dancing attire and now work a dark red cold-shoulder, long sleeve sweater with a pair of light blue skinny jeans and nude color perforated flats that had a sort of lace-like pattern to them. Her dark blonde hair was in a neater, but still messy bun.

"Can you wake her up?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Jack. Vengeance hasn't done anything like this for hundreds of years."

"What happened last time?" Maybe it would work again for Elsa? But Dica, sensing my thoughts was already shaking her head.

"A kiss of true love woke Princess Aurora, but Jack-" she sighed as I had immediately crushed my lips to Elsa's then watched frantically for any sign that she was wakening. When she didn't, I looked at Dica who continued speaking before I could open my mouth. "Last time, Princess Aurora was cursed as a baby to die in eternal sleep when she turned sixteen, but a good fairy was able to change it so that she would wake with true love's kiss. This was not the case with Elsa.

"How are we suppose to wake her up, then?" I asked, my frustrating growing with my panic.

"Don't you see?" Dica said. "We're not. I'm sorry, Jack. I know this isn't what you want to hear and I'm not helping, but it's the truth." A small, forced smile curved up her lips. "Vengeance put a piece of his burning ash in her heart and it's growing, spreading through her system. That's why her hair is turning black."

"Is she going to ... to ... die ... when all of it turns black?" I asked desperately, fearing the answer.

"No, she won't die. She's in deep eternal sleep and the longer she's there, the deeper she goes, the more her hair turns black. But he deeper sleep she's in, the harder it's going to be to wake her up if there is a way. When her hair turns completely black, it'll be virtually impossible to wake her up."

"But, if we're not suppose to wake her up, then - _Ugh!"_

"Elsa has to wake herself up," Dica explained quietly. "There's nothing we can do from out here - she's trapped in her own mind. Knowing Vengeance, he probably has her living in her nightmares."

I looked at her incredulously. "And we're suppose to just _sit _here and do _nothing _while she's having nonstop nightmares?" I didn't mean to shout, but I was too far gone to care enough to apologize. Dica seemed to take no offense at my increased volume.

"She's strong, Jack," she assured me, watching me pace by the bed with hazel eyes. "Don't worry, she'll figure it out."

Groaning, I gripped my hair with the hand that wasn't clenched around Elsa's nesting doll. "I feel so ... helpless," I admitted in anger. "I can never seem to be able to protect her. First Pitch and now this ... I'm always too late."

"That's not true," Dica said. "You got knocked out with Pitch when he made her lose control of her powers. It's hard to do _anything_ when you're unconscious."

"Yeah, okay, but what about this time?" I argued. "I shouldn't have stayed behind. If I had just gone with her, maybe I would've been able to-"

"What?" She interrupted me. "Do what, exactly, Jack? North said she was acting completely fine until she suddenly fainted. How exactly were you going to prevent that?" She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Jack, you need to calm down. Vengeance is drawn to fear, anger, and revenge; anything that would cause a fight. You're too emotional."

"Well, how do you expect me to be?" I snapped. "I love her more than anything and she's ..." I gestured helplessly at Elsa's unresponsive form.

"I understand," Dica said with empathy and patience. "Look, let me and the other Guardians find a way to wake her up and if we run into Vengeance and it turns into a fight, you can have dibs on kicking his ass. In the meantime, stay here with her and think about anything _except_ what's going on right now, alright?" I said nothing and only looked at her as if she had unexpectedly grown three heads. How did she seriously expect me _not_ to think about what's going on? Dica gave me another small smile. "You could think more about that proposal of yours," she suggested. "Or maybe get started on that ring? Now would be a good time to size her finger without her knowing." Throwing a wink over her shoulder at me, she left me alone.

I looked back at Elsa and sat next to her on the bed. The moon shined brightly through the window as my mind wondered. It reminded me of when I first took her to see dreams being made soon after I met her. Whether or not it was out first "date" was debatable considering we weren't technically together at the time. I had still been unsure of my feelings and had been more concerned with getting her out of the castle for at least one night. I managed to do better than a night when I asked her to join me in my trips around the world. Of course, she didn't accept until after she became a Guardian at North's workshop ...

A smile spread across my face as I remembered the look of wonder and awe on her face when she saw the dreams. The happy smile on her lips when she touched a ribbon of dream sand and it turned into a pair of doves that flew in circles around her. How she rested her head on my shoulder and told me that she didn't want to be alone. I had very nearly kissed her that night. I should have kissed her.

My eyes closed and I let my head drop back, thumping against the ice headboard behind me. That's where I should have proposed to her. It would have been perfect No distractions, beautiful scenery, and she would have absolutely loved it. That's what I would do if she woke up. I stopped myself and shook my head. No. _When_ she woke up. I couldn't think like that. She was going to be okay and wake up and we'll figure out how to stop Vengeance and all would be as it should be.

But then more of her pale hair turned black and I felt another wave of helplessness wash over me. She was suffering and all I could do was watch. I took her hand in mine again and pressed it against my lips, hoping that she could somehow sense me. That maybe she would find the comfort I was trying to give her. I hoped, but I don't think she did.

Looking down at the nesting doll, my lips twitched up. It wasn't half bad. Elsa always did have a thing about snowflakes. The Ice Castle was covered in them. Even the chandelier, if you looked directly up from under it, resembled a snowflake. Another flash of inspiration sparked through me and I quickly placed the ice nesting doll on her bedside table next to the Olaf figure that I had made for her.

Taking hold of her left hand - which was conveniently the one closest to me - I formed a simple band that was a blue so light it almost looked like the color of silver around her ring finger. Then, I made a round stone of ice in the center and placed smaller ones around the edges of it so that it looked like a snowflake. It looked beautiful on her finger and I had to resist the urge to leave it there and stare at it. Instead, I slipped it off and put it in my pocket. **(link to the ring is in the authors note)**

More of her hair turned black and the little bit of joy that I had experienced vanished just like that. At least a third of it was black by now. It was happening so quickly.

"Come on, Elsa," I begged her. "Fight it. Come back to me." Naturally, she didn't answer, but tears leaked from under her eyes and I sat up. Could she hear me? "Elsa? Wake up. You can do it! _Please."_

But she only continued to cry. Her brow was furrowed in restlessness and her lips pressed tightly together as if to hold back a scream. She stared to toss from side to side. I became alarmed and, before I could do anything, her lips parted, releasing a blood curdling scream. Her back arched off the bed and all I cold do is watch with wide eyes.

What could possibly be going on in her nightmares to make her act in such a way? I had to do something! I couldn't just sit here and watch this! But what could I do? The enemy is in her head. How did I let this happen? And to Elsa, of all people. My bottom lip started to quiver and I pressed my lips together to stop the action.

Elsa's body slumped back down to he bed and her screaming stopped as another thick lock of hair turned black. Unable to bare it, I turned away and pulled my hood over my head, walking to the window. The moon hung in he sky. Always there, always watching, but never speaking. I looked up at it as I heard Elsa whimper from the bed. As if her nightmares were causing her physical pain.

"How do I wake her up?" I asked the moon desperately. If I ever needed him to take to me, to acknowledge my existence, it was right now. "What can I do?" Not surprisingly, the Moon remained silent as it always did. Scoffing, I turned my back to it, feeling angry. Angry at the Moon for not helping me, angry at Vengeance for putting Elsa in this state and angry at _me_ for letting him do it. I took the ring out of my pocked and stared at it for a minute before sighing and closing my hand in a fist around it. Now I had the ring. Now I had ideas. Now I had a place and a time to ask her to marry me. But now, it was too late.

* * *

**Yeah, I know. Jack is really dull in this chapter and Elsa still hasn't woken up. She won't wake up for a few more chapters. Sorry. But Jack will get a pep talk in a couple of chapters. ;)**

**For those of you who did not guess where Jack is going to propose, but want to see the ring, the link to see the ring is;  
**** James and sons blog in-chicago-engagement-ring-shoppers-love-hearts-on-fire/delight/  
**

**You're going to have to remove the spaces in the URL because FF is acting weird and won't so the entire link without the**** spaces. If you copy and paste it into google, it should be the first link you come to (that isn't an ad) and the ring will be the first ring shown. It's shaped like a snowflake.**

**Let me know if you have trouble viewing the link. Also, I have a couple of dresses in mind for Elsa's wedding dress and I was considering having all of my lovely readers vote on it in a poll. What do you think? Would you vote?**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, please don't hesitate to ask and I'll answer it as soon as I can without any spoilers.**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	12. Chapter 12: Winter Sleep (Elsa's POV)

**Hi everyone! So, in this chapter there is a song and, I would love to take credit for it but I can't, it's called Winter Sleep by Olivia Lufkin. An amazing person (that is not me) made a Jelsa video using this song. The title of the video is Winter Love Elsa and Jack and it was uploaded on YouTube by Krisedge Vk. I highly recommend you watch it if you are able to. It is a major part of the inspiration for this sequel and the video inspired me with some of Elsa's nightmares.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Winter Sleep (Elsa's POV)**

The nightmares just wouldn't stop. I had now way to "get use" to them as they constantly changed. Sometimes I partook in the scenes, other times I was just a bystander. Sometimes they would be my worst memories, other times they would be altered memories and other times they would be complete fantasies. With each one, the scenes became more real and it became harder to believe myself when I repetitively chanted that it was only a bad dream because the scenario didn't stop until I relented and thought that maybe it _was_ real. And they only got worse the longer I let them pay out. With every surrender, another piece of my hair would turn black.

I tired not to cry or scream or do anything that would let Jack know how much I was suffering, but then I was being forced to watch Jack being tortured to death and I broke and once I broke, I couldn't stop. The chains had held me firmly in place as I had tried and tried to get to him. Not even the burning coal gloved on my hands hurt as much as it did to watch that. Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, Hans, and my parents were regular participants in my nightmares. Most of them, however, were about Jack and those were the worst, which was probably why they occurred so frequently. Ranging anywhere from watching his death to listening to him say that he no longer loved me.

A few times, I had tried to recall good memories but whenever I did that, they would become twisted and warped until they were a nightmare. The more good times I remembered the quicker they were tainted and I was quick to stop before all I was left with were the memories of all the nightmares.

By now, time had no meaning left to me. I had no way of knowing how many seconds, minutes, hours or days had passed. No way of knowing how long I've been in this state. Not even an estimate. It felt like forever, it felt like a second. I couldn't make sense of any of it. I could only imagine how Jack was handling all of this. Especially with about half of my hair being black.

Right now, I was curled in a ball staring blankly at the scene playing out in front of me. This was one of the better ones. Not good, but better. Easier to stomach. I was watching a young version of me and Anna play in the winter wonderland I had created on that fateful night. The night that started all of my troubles. Tears slid silently down my face and I didn't even try to wipe them away. The gloves were still on my hands and I would only end up burning my face.

_"It keeps coming back,  
To me.  
I remember this  
Pain."_

My voice sounded slightly rougher than usual as I sung, my vocal cords a little worn out from screaming and crying. The lyrics came out without any real thought put into them. I watched as I struck Anna in the head as she fell from the top of a tall tower of snow.

_"It spreads across  
My eyes.  
Everything is  
Dull."_

Then Anna was knocking on my door, begging me to build a snowman. Only this time, I saw it from the other side of the door. I saw every look of hurt and disappointment on her face as she grew with age.

_"Everyone's smiling.  
They're smiling.  
It pushes me,  
Far, far away."_

Anna was asking for my blessing to Hans. A man she had just me. I told her no. She claimed it was true love to which I replied that she knew nothing of true love. Becoming angry, she snapped that I only knew how to shut everyone out. Those words always managed to cut deep.

_"I can't understand,  
Everything is blue.  
Can you hear me__Out there?"_

I lost my temper and spread icicles around me as I tried to escape the judge eyes of the guests. The ice pointed at them like weapons, daring the people to come closer. But nobody did. On the contrary, everyone took a step or two back. I ran.

_"Will you  
Hold me now?  
Hold me now,  
My frozen heart."_

I caught a glimpse of Jack's shocked face in the crowd of people as my dreams self backed into a fountain, freezing it in a horrible shape. This had to be a dream. Jack wasn't at my coronation. I tried to warn him to say away, but dream-Elsa's unstable emotions caused ice from my hand to slam him into a nearby stone wall.

_"I'm gazing from the distance,  
And I feel everything  
Pass through me.  
I can't me alone right now."_

My dream self's foot connected with the water of the fjord and a small portion froze to ice. Anna called after me, but her voice screamed that I was a monster. Casting a quick glance over my shoulder, I watched as my drams self took a chance and ran across the water, freezing the fjord to solid ice in the process.

_"Will you  
Hold me now?  
Hold me now,  
My frozen heart."_

Everything in my bedroom was covered in a thick blanket of snow in my bedroom. Snowflakes hung in the air around dream-Elsa, unmoving, as Anna's muffled singing echoed through the door. I watched my dream self hugged her knees to her chest and cried over the death of her - my - beloved parents. I cold remember how hopeless I had felt when news of the ship wreck had reached my ears.

_"I'm lost in deep winter sleep,  
I can't seem to find my way out alone.  
Can you  
Wake me?"  
_

The scene changed to me running away from Anna when she first arrived at he Ice Castle, trying to consolidate me. I ran to the balcony in my attempt to protect her, but she persisted. I lost my control and froze her heart.

_"I know when I  
Let it in.  
It hides love from  
This moment."_

Hans arrived at the Ice Castle with an army of men. Nearly all of them stayed preoccupied with Marshmallow, but two managed to dodge him and chase me upstairs. They tried to kill me in spite of my pleas to be left alone. I almost killed them until Hans distracted me and I was knocked out by the chandelier.

_"So I guard it  
Close,  
Watch the moves  
It makes."_

Using my powers, I escaped the prison and ran out onto the froze fjord. The blizzard I unintentionally created hindered my sense. I cold barely see, but kept running. Then Hans was telling me that I had killed Anna and it all stopped. Anna froze to ice as I died from an arrow. She didn't thaw.

_"But it gets me  
But it gets me.  
I wish I could  
Understand how I,"_

Many years later, Jack stood between me and Pitch Black as the dark man taunted me, making my emotions spin out of control in the form of a blizzard. Jack tried to get me to calm down, but it was no use. I lost control again and he was knocked unconscious from the blow.

_"Could make it disappear.  
Make it disappear.  
Anyone out there,  
Hear me now?__"_

As usual, everything changed and I saw myself still sleeping in the bed. Jack was there. Physically, he hadn't aged a day, but one look in his eyes told me that my absence had aged him beyond his years. His normally happy and amused blue eyes were hollow and dead as he stared at my sleeping form.

_"Will you  
Hold me now?  
Hold me now,  
My frozen heart."_

Then, Anna was standing next to Hans with joy in her face as they stood over dream Elsa. The prince of the Southern Isles raised his gleaming sword above dream Elsa's kneeling form and my sister's smile grew wider in eager anticipation. Pressing her lips to Hans's ear as a lover would do, she whispered, "Kill her."

_"Kiss my lips  
And maybe you can  
Take me to your world for now.  
I can't be alone right now."_

What could possibly wake me up if not a true love's kiss? Dream Elsa was leaning closer to Jack, but he stopped her when their lips were centimeters apart. The smile on his face was one of cruelty and mocker as he said, "Oh, Elsa. ... If only there was someone out there who loved you."

_"Will you  
Hold me now?  
Hold me now,  
My frozen heart."_

Jack. That's who I needed right now. Not this wretched nightmare Jack. _My_ Jack. The one who would wrap his arms around me and brush my tears away while he told me that everything would be alright, that we would find a way to get through this.

_"I'm lost in deep winter sleep,  
I can't seem to find my way out alone.  
Can you  
Wake me?"_

By the time I finished my song, very nearly all of my hair was black. Only one lock of hair remained it's natural platinum blonde color. I knew it wouldn't last. Any source of comfort was taken away in this place.

"You know," Vengeance's voice said from behind me. Startled, I whipped around and came to my feet. "I had heard rumors that you could sing quite well. Bravo. My I have an encore?"

I glared at him, letting my eyes deliver my answer. He sighed in mock disappointment, shaking his head.

"Thought as much." A smile grew on his face and he reached out to rub my one pale lock between his thumb and forefinger. "It's nice to see that everything is going smoothly. You're almost in the deepest form of sleep. Very soon now, it will be practically impossible to wake you up." He chuckled. "I told you that you wouldn't succeed."

"What do you want, Vengeance?" I asked with a sigh, growing weary of his continuous small talk. This was the first time I had seen him since I originally dropped into eternal sleep.

"I just came to check on you and see how everything was ... progressing."

He was talking about my hair. I rolled my eyes. "And has everything _progressed_ to your satisfaction?" I mocked, greatly irritated.

Pale yellow eyes flashed with anger at my tone, but I really couldn't care less at this point. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

"Well, if I were being honest, things could have progressed a bit further. Perhaps you just need a little ... push?"

Rolling my eyes again I turned away and felt my mask of nonchalance melt away at the scenario that was playing directly before my eyes. A blizzard surrounded my dream self and Jack was standing in the same room. Dream Elsa screamed at him to leave. To stay away, but he didn't listen. Her - My - control slipped and my dream self's powers hit his heart. Jack froze to solid ice instantly. Solid ice that cracked and shattered under dream Elsa's fingertips. I was in shock. That nightmare had never happened before. The final lock of blonde hair transformed into black.

Vengeance chuckled behind me. "My work here is complete," he said. "Sweet dreams, dear Queen." And he was gone.

My knees hit the floor. I needed to wake up, but how? I had tried _everything!_ Even went as far as to attempt suicide in one of my dreams, but the scene always changed before I could die and I would be entirely healed. Nothing worked. My bowed head slowly raised and a spark of determination lit a fire within me.

Not _everything._

* * *

**Yeah, I know, Elsa still hasn't woken up yet. But at least she has a plan now! She won't wake up in the next chapter either, just to let you know.**

**_THE POLL FOR ELSA'S WEDDING DRESS IS UP! _Just go to my profile and copy and paste the URLs to see the dresses I found. I know it's a pain to do that, but it was the only way I could do it. Please be sure to vote and let me know which dress everyone likes. My own personal favorite is the one at the Dress-Market URL, but I will use the one that gets the most votes. I will let everyone know when I'm closing the poll. I was actually planning not to open the poll until a later chapter, but I wanted to make sure that everyone had a chance to vote.**

**Again, the SONG is Winter Sleep by Olivia Lufkin and the VIDEO is Winter Love Elsa and Jack by Krisedge Vk.**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, please don't be afraid to ask me and I will answer them as soon as possible without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	13. Chapter 13: Revenge (Jack's POV)

**Just a little announcement; The Snow King has reached 100 reviews! Yay!**

**Okay, on with the chapter. Jack gets a little pep talk from Dica.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Revenge (Jack's POV)**

The door opened behind me and I was still staring at the ice ring, glinting off the early rays of the sun as it rose above the mountain tops. Elsa still hadn't woken up. She cried ad screamed and whimpered, but not once has she opened her eyes. I felt as if I had aged a thousand years just listening to her. Pure torture.

"What's that?" Dica asked, looking at the ice in my hand over my shoulder. I didn't bother to look up at her.

"It's her ring," I said quietly, my voice sounding raspy and rough. "I made it."

"It's beautiful," she said. "Very Elsa."

"Thanks." I paused before speaking again. "I would have taken her to see the dream sand again. On the hill close by a town where I took her when we first met."

Dica smiled at me. "That's perfect, Jack."

"It would have been," I agreed.

"No," she argued. "It _will_ be. Elsa will wake up and you'll propose and she'll say yes and everything will be alright."

"How do you know that?" I asked, desperation obvious in my voice as I finally looked at her.

She sighed. "I won't lie, Jack. I'm more of a pessimist than an optimist. I typically believe in preparing for the worst, but I also believe that there's a difference in that and giving up. You can't give up, Jack."

My eyes moved over to Elsa. I had watched as piece by piece of her pale blonde hair turned to black until only a single lock remained its original color. She was murmuring something, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. "She's been screaming and crying and I can't do anything to help her. Do you know what it's like? To watch the one you love more than anything being tortured and being unable to stop it?"

"No, I don't," she admitted. "I can't begin to imagine what you're going through right now or how you're feeling. But it should like you're giving up and you're better than that, Jack!" She was starting to yell and I looked at her. I may not have known Dica that long, but what I did know of her told me that she was a laid back person. "Do you really expect Elsa to fight to wake up when you're giving up on her? _You_ have to fight it, too. Can't you see? This is exactly what Vengeance wants! He wants you to drive yourself mad with grief and guilt and you're just playing right into his hands. He's trying to kill two birds with ones stone here and you can't let him do it!"

"What do you suggest I do then?" I asked. She was right. Elsa wouldn't want me to be acting like this and I had been begging for something to do since all of this started. So if Dica had something for me to do to help, I would do it.

"There is something," Dica said, "but you would have to leave Elsa." I looked back at Elsa. She was still muttering, completely asleep. Completely vulnerable to any dangerous outside forces.

"But-" I began and Dica cut me off, probably sensing where my thoughts were.

"Jack, listen to me," she said. "Nothing's going to happen to Elsa. Vengeance isn't going to come after her physically - she's stuck sleeping. I wouldn't ask you to leave her if I din't think you shouldn't."

"Then why are you asking me to now?" I snapped, turning back to Elsa.

"We found Vengeance." My eyes flashed back to her and Dica smirked, seeing that she had my attention. "He's hiding out at the Castle of Arendelle, which is really strange since he usually favors really hot and dangerous places. Like highly active volcanoes, or even sleeping ones that one time. ... He just _had_ to destroy Pompeii, the sick bastard-"

"You found him?" I interrupted her. "He's at Arendelle Castle?" She met my gaze, the smirk returning to her face.

"Oh, yeah. I just thought you would like to know. After all, I _did_ say that you could have dibs on kicking his ass if we found him. Time for a little revenge."

Hesitating, I glanced back over at Elsa. I couldn't just leave her, could I? What if I left and something Elsa happened to her? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. "Revenge is a waste of time," I muttered, turning my back to Dica. She huffed in mild irritation.

"Well, so is eating junk food and watching television. You do it because it _feels_ good." I chuckled. She really did have an answer for everything. "Come on! You can't honestly tell me that you _don't_ want to beat this guy up and, truthfully, you're starting to get really depressing."

Running my fingers through my hair, I let my head fall back. "What is beating this guy up going to do? He's not going to tell us how to wake Elsa up and you said yourself that she had to wake herself up somehow."

"Okay, but if Vengeance is too busy fighting, then he won't be able to bother Elsa in her head." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "I know you don't want to leave her, Jack, but she's going to be _fine._ You've been stuck in here for over twenty four hours and you _need_ to get out." Still, I hesitated and she huffed again. "Alright, you know what? The other Guardians are outside of Arendelle Castle at this very moment waiting on _you_ before they break in and put Vengeance back in his place. So you can either come willingly or I can drag you down to that Castle myself. We can't win without you."

Elsa's tears left wet trails down her cheeks that were followed by others. Her eyebrows twitched and her brow furrowed. A whimper escaped from her lips and the tears fell harder as the last lock of her pale hair turned black. She was in the deepest stage of her sleep. It was done. This was it.

Everything I saw grew a reddish tint around it and my blood boiled in my veins. Suddenly, revenge didn't seem like such a waste of time. In fact, it seemed like quite a good idea. An _extremely_ good idea, even. I turned back to Dica who was staring at me with a smug smirk and knowing eyes.

"Fine," I agreed. "When do we leave?"

She took my hand in hers. "Right now." Everything went black and then we were standing in Arendelle's Castle library.I shivered, not from the cold of course. I imagine I know knew how water felt when it was being turned from a liquid to a solid. Beside me, Dica was looking like she was trying not to laugh.

"What was that?" I demanded, a little freaked out.

"I can travel in the form of ink to anywhere with some sort of art or storytelling," she explained. "The feeling takes some getting used to. Sorry, I should have warned you but the opportunity doesn't come everyday and that look never gets old." She chuckled quietly then held a finger up to her lips. "Now, we're going to have to be quiet. The Guardians are just outside and we have to let them in since Vengeance locked the place up tight. At the moment, we have surprise on our side and the more advantages we have, the better. Let's go."

I gave her a sharp nod and followed her as she weaved her way through the hallways effortlessly. My feet hovered above the ground as I trailed behind her, holding my staff ready and constantly glancing over both of my shoulder for any sight of Vengeance. He was nowhere to be seen. That din't calm me since I knew he was here somewhere. I cold feel his presence.

Dica unlatched a window, lifting up on the pane of glass to keep it from creaking as she opened it. We stood back and allowed Bunny to hop in. Sandy was next, floating inside through the window. Tooth climbed inside, foregoing the use of her wings to stay quiet, and I reached out a hand to help her. North was a different story. The window was narrow and ... well, Santa Clause isn't exactly known for being physically fit. It took some time and a _lot_ of work, but we eventually got him in without a sound.

"Okay," I said. "We're all here. Now where would Vengeance be?" For a moment, nobody said anything and we just exchanged glances between each other. Then Dica breathed in sharply.

"I think I know," she whispered, making her way to he door and doing a waving motion with her hand. "Follow me."

As we crept down the corridors behind her, I saw her holding a dagger in each of her hands. I didn't remember seeing them on her for. "Where did you get those?" I hissed in her ear. She gave me a look and rolled her eyes.

"Please, don't sound so surprised, Jack," she replied just as quietly. "Have a little faith in me. I might stay by myself most of the time, but I'm not _completely_ defenseless; I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Good to know," I muttered under my breath and she smirked at me.

"Be quiet," she chided. "We're almost there."

Five years may have passed since the last time I've been here, but I recognized the door we were approaching immediately. Elsa had hesitated at this door when she was giving me a tour of the Castle. It was Elsa's old bedroom when she was human. It was cracked open

Dica glanced over her shoulder at us to make sure we were ready. I felt my heart race increase as she pushed the door further open slowly. My grip tightened on my staff. North crouched into a defensive posture with his swords ready in his hands. Bunny drew back his arm with a boomerang at the ready. Sandy and Tooth clenched their fists with determined expressions on their faces.

The door opened to reveal the room just as it was five years ago, if much dustier. Vengeance was sitting on the bed with his back to us. His form hindered our sight, but it looked as if a body was lying under the blue blankets on the bed. We entered the room as quietly as possible, but it was pointless.

"Hello," he said without even a glance in our direction. "I was wondering when you would be here. Don't you know how rude it is to keep people waiting?" None of use answered as we looked at each other briefly in confusion. Why wasn't he attacking up? "It's also rude to ignore somebody when they're talking to you."

"And for a moment there, I almost gave a damn," Dica replied with a snarl. Vengeance let out a deep sigh.

"Must you insist on using such fowl language?" He wondered.

"There are some times when cursing provide a relief that nothing else can provide."

"Even so," he said. "I would think that even _you_ would be sensitive enough not to use such words in front of a child." He stood up from the bed and, laying there in the sunlight, was Annalise. She was sound asleep. My eyes narrowed at the man.

"Leave her alone." I said and he smiled at me.

"Jack Frost," he said slowly, my name rolling off his tongue in a disgusting fashion. "I must say, this _is_ an honor. Elsa's had so many nightmares about you and now I finally get to meet you in person." My lips pressed into a thin line at the mention of Elsa's state and my grip tightened on the wood of my staff as he continued smiling at me. "Don't worry about the girl. She is safe ... for now. She is merely leverage and whether or not she remains unharmed is entirely up to you. Just surrender."

"What if we don't?" Bunny challenged. Vengeance's pale yellow eyes flashed over to the giant rabbit as lifted his shoulders in a shrug, still smiling that sick and twisted smile.

"Then I'll kill her," he said as if he was suggesting a particular type of wine at a restaurant. "I have absolutely no qualms about killing ... anybody really. Not even your dear little Snow Queen that you treasure so much." He let out a breath. "Unfortunately, such a think is impossible as nobody can die twice. I suppose her current state of eternal sleep will have to do ..."

Fury and a need fore revenge blinded me and I shot out a long stream of ice at him. It melted instantly with a flick of his had, but the fight had already begun and one of Bunny's boomerangs was already heading towards him. Vengeance pulled out a flaming sword from beneath his cloak and deflected the weapon with ease.

Sword held high above his head, he turned to the unsuspecting Annalise but Dica threw herself in between them. The blades of her two daggers crossed in an 'X' as Vengeance let the sword fall down . There was a loud clang as the metal connected. Dica grunted under the pressure of keeping the sword from causing any damage as Vengeance pressed down.

North ran forward, swinging his own swords in an attack, distracting Vengeance long enough for Dica to press a foot to his chest and kick him to the floor. Power exploded from him as he made contact with the hardwood, destroying he walls of the room to rubble and setting a couple of thing alight with fire.

All of us were thrown backwards from the force. Sandy managed to catch Annalise as she fell from the bed and make sure she stayed asleep. Toot flew up to Vengeance's face and swung her fist in what would have been a really good punch if he hadn't dodged it. His punch, however, did not miss and Tooth somersaulted back into a pillar.

I flew towards him, but he jerked his hand towards me and I was propelled backwards by a wind full of ash. He slammed into one of the few walls that was left standing and my staff slipped from my hand. Rubble crumbled from the high ceiling above me as flames crackled, licking and burning everything withing their reach. Vengeance approached me at a leisurely pace.

"You shouldn't have left her, Jack," he chided, letting me fall to my knees on the floor. I coughed violently, drinking in the ash-free oxygen as he tossed something at me. Catching it in my hand, I saw that it was a silver locket.

Elsa's locket.

* * *

**Oh, the suspense! Just to let you know, the next chapter is entitled 'Waking Up' and you all know what that means! Yay!**

**Just another reminder _THE POLL FOR ELSA'S WEDDING DRESS IS UP!_Just go to my profile page and you should see it at the top. Please be sure to vote when you get the chance if you have an account so I can be sure to get everyone's opinions.**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, don't hesitate to ask and I will answer them as soon as I can without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	14. Chapter 14: Waking Up (Elsa's POV)

**Here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for! Are you excited?**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Waking Up (Elsa's POV)**

I waited patiently as my nightmares played out in front of me. Currently, Anna was announcing my death sentence to the towns people who cheered joyously at her words, calling for my blood. Hans smiled down at her, standing by her side with the crown jewels on his head. This time, I was to be stoned to death in the town square.

This has been going on for quite sometime now. You would think that, after a while, I would have run through every possible nightmare scenario I could possibly dream of and then some. Apparently this was not he case, but I had a plan to wake myself up.

Honestly, though, if all of this is in my head, then _something_ in that nightmare ash that Vengeance had put in my heart had turned my own mind against me. The setting I was waiting for has had yet to appear ever since the idea came across my mind. Naturally.

Guards dragged my dream-self by the chains attached to the shackles encasing her hands. The nightmares have grown worse since my hair turned completely black. Before, the scenes had always ended just before I died but now I was forced to endure up to days after my death. It was sickening to watch yourself being killed repeatedly.

Still, thought, I was able to endure these considerably more easily than before. A great part of that is probably because now I have a plan. Of course, since I had a plan, my nightmares had to keep me from playing it out. At first, it wasn't a problem. I had to get those wretched gloves off for my plan to even have a chance of success, anyways.

But getting the gloves off took a lot of time and effort. Almost as if they had been super glued to the skin of my hands. To make matters worse, it seemed that my powers had grown weak and I couldn't be sure if it was due to lack of use or the complete takeover of nightmare ash of my body. Either way, I had to use a lot more strength than usual to produce ice within the gloves.

Naturally, with the gloves being made of burning coal, the ice I _did_ manage to create melted almost instantly. But this didn't deter me. I wanted the ice to meld. Oh so very slowly, I was eventually able to get enough ice melted that it put out the burning coal and the gloves crumbled, falling to my feet in pieces.

My hands were bright red with burns, but it felt so good to have them _free._ I brushed off some remaining dust from my skin with a smug feeling, but winced a bit as my hands were still sore.

I hadn't seen Vengeance since he turned my last lock of hair black and I wasn't sure how exactly I felt about that. On one hand, he wasn't around to relentlessly taunt, mock, and patronize me and _that_ was a very good thing. But, on the other had, if he wasn't here torturing me, then what was he doing? Was he hurting Jack? Hurting some poor innocent child?

An exasperated sound left my lips. One could never be sure about their feelings when their in regards to Vengeance. It was so miserable while he was gone, it was almost like having him here. I wondered vaguely if Pitch would share my sentiments about his brother, but quickly removed the thought from my mind.

Of course when I _needed_ a certain nightmare to occur, it would take forever. Strangely inconvenient since it was typically a frequent one. For some reason, my own mind just loved to torture me by repeatedly showing how I froze Anna's heart. Probably because I tortured myself with the fact for four hundred years.

My newly freed hands were tingling as I waited. You know the feeling when your hand falls asleep and it tingles when you finally let blood flow back to it? Yeah, that kind of tingling. They were still covered in scars from where the coal had burned and they weren't healing. I wondered if my hands would look like this when I woke up or if they were only like this in my head.

Arendelle's town square melted away in front of me as the nightmare ended. I watched with some impatience as the next one began to form only to be disappointed when I saw that an adolescent me was standing in my - her - bedroom, scared after losing control of her powers. Her - my - our - I didn't know anymore! Her parents stood in front of her, telling her that she was a monster Such a thing never actually happened. It was only a concoction of my mind.

Groaning in exasperation, I flopped onto my back, turning my head to the side to watch the scene play out because I knew it wouldn't end unless I did. To be honest, thought, I was a little bit relieved. What I was planning scared me a little. Okay, it scared me a _lot_. I had no way of knowing if what I was planning to try would work nor how it would affect me if it did or didn't. And once a scene with he Ice Castle showed up, I was going to have to take my chance. Especially if it meant that I would have to wait this long for another opportunity if I didn't.

My old bedroom melted away and, again, I perked up, my head lifting off the floor only to drop back down again. Still not at the Ice Castle. Instead, it formed a modern neighborhood. Annalise's neighborhood. She was playing with a group of kids several meters away from dream Elsa. I squinted my eyes in mild interest and surprise. This was the first one with Annalise.

The ball her group was playing with sailed high over my dream self's head and Annalise ran to fetch it, running directly thought dream Elsa in the process. She ran through her again as hurried to rejoin the group. In spite of my wishes, I felt hurt.

I knew it wasn't real, none of this was really happening. But when you watch your first believer go straight through you as if you weren't there ... well ... It doesn't matter if it was _real_ or not. The pain would always be there. Like when your lifelong best-friend suddenly starts ignoring you all the time. Or when your sister completely shuts you out for no apparent reason.

As the thought crossed my mind, the outdoor scenery around me changed and - predictably - I was back at Arendelle Castle, watching the progression of my human isolation years form Anna's side of the door This was another "favorite." It played quite frequently.

"Come on," I muttered. "Stop being difficult." I wondered what Jack was doing right now. Was he still sitting by my bed? Or maybe he was hunting down Vengeance. That possibility made me a little uneasy. Vengeance was more powerful and much more dangerous than his younger brother. The only people Pitch wanted to hurt were the Guardians for the purpose of being feared and proving his superiority. Narcissist.

Vengeance, on the other hand, didn't care about any of that. He didn't care if he was seen or if the Guardians knew that he was more powerful than them. And he certainly didn't care if anyone was killed. He reveled in death. The only thing he cared about was blood and violence and that made him dangerous. _Very_ dangerous.

Which meant if Jack was off fighting him, then the chances of him getting seriously hurt were extremely high. What if I woke up and it was Jack who was stuck in eternal sleep? Our positions would be reversed. I would go insane. But if Jack had the opportunity to get his hands on Vengeance, the likelihood of him passing it up were slim to none.

The Castle faded away and I was in my old bedroom, but it was in modern times. I say up, my curiosity piqued, as I looked around. The place was on fire and the walls were utterly destroyed. Annalise was laying on my old bed, completely asleep, but my attention was drawn away from all of those details by what I saw next.

Jack was on his knees before Vengeance as he stared down at a small object in his hands. It was my locket. The one Anna had given me for my birthday so many centuries ago. Vengeance picked up his sword from the floor and raised it above him. The scene faded as the sword started to lower in a slow arch towards Jack who didn't even look up.

"No!" I screamed, running forward but everything when black. I should have _known_ this would happen! He would go after Vengeance. Why didn't he just ... just ... I don't even know what I would rather have him do! _Not_ track Vengeance down.

Oh, now I _really_ needed to wake up. I knew that it was impossible for Jack to die. He already died. But that didn't mean that nothing bad couldn't happen to him. Or that he couldn't be hurt by a sword going through him! There was no telling what would happen to him if Vengeance struck him with that. Nothing good, though.

My hands flew to my chest. The necklace that Anna gave me and I never took off wasn't there. When did that happen? I don't remember Vengeance ever being close enough to me to get it from around my neck. Actually, no, never mind _when_ he got it. _How_ did he manage to take it without me knowing about it?

And what did he do to Annalise? There was no way she would sleep through a castle burning down around her. She wasn't even suppose to be at the Castle! Did he hurt her? I didn't care if she still believed in me or not - if he laid a finger on her, I was going to -

I stopped, realizing that I was making it snow in my own head. Great. Taking a couple of deep breaths did the trick and snowflakes stopped falling around me. Okay, Elsa, think. You need a nightmare where you're at the Ice Castle.

My eyes rolled and I started to pace. But that's not going to happen because I _needed_ it to happen. I cursed Vengeance and his nightmare ash that turned my own mind against me.

Out of pure habit, I ran my fingers through the now inky black strands of my hair but quickly jerked them back, blowing my cold breath onto the skin. My burns still stung and my hands still tingled. Touching anything was the equivalent to rubbing a piece of raw skin against sand paper.

The memory of Jack sitting before Vengeance on his knees as Vengeance lifted that flaming sword above his head flashed through my mind again and tears filed my eyes, spilling over onto my cheeks. I had to help him! But to do that, I needed to wake up.

When my eyes opened, I stared in amazement at he familiar blue ice walls of my Ice Castle. This was what I needed. This was my opportunity. I ran my tongue over my lips and my hands started to shake. Not in excitement nor ecstasy, but in nervousness. I was scared. So scared, but I couldn't let that stop me. Annalise needed me. _Jack_ needed me.

Behind me, I could hear Anna's voice. She was yelling, but my mind was too distracted by what I was about to do to myself to make sense of her words. I was facing a wall, staring at my reflection in the ice. The pitch blackness of my hair made my skin look even more pale than it normally was. Even my irises had gone from blue to black.

This thick wall of ice was my saving grace. It was _my_ ice. The only force strong enough to withstand a strong blast of my powers. The only force with the ability to reflect my powers back on myself. My breath shook as I breathed in deeply. I could do this.

Anna's voice grew louder and louder, but I didn't listen to her. I raised my hands towards the wall slowly. This was it. I had to do this. Jack needed me.

Ice shot from my hand like a speeding bullet. I won't lie to you. Nothing happened in slow motion. Time did not slow down. The stream of ice I released poured from my hand, reflected off the wall and hit my heart before I even had the chance to blink.

Gasping for air, I shot up in a sitting position and took in my surroundings. I was laying in my bed at the Ice Castle. I smiled and laughed victoriously. I did it! I was awake! I looked at my hands - no burns! I gripped my hair which was still black, but that was minor compared to the fact that I was finally awake!

My feelings of victory and glee dropped faster than a large sack of rocks, however, when I remembered the position Jack was in. Scanning the room, I hoped that it was only one of the many nightmares I had been suffering from. But all I saw was an empty chair of ice that wasn't made by me and no Jack. I immediately made a snowflake and flew out of the window to the Castle of Arendelle.

I felt something as the wind howled around my ears. It was strange. I had never felt anything like it before. It nipped at my nose, cheeks and tips of my ears. With a sharp intake of breath, I realized what it was.

I was _cold._

* * *

**Oh my gosh, there still so much suspense! Believe it or not, guys, it's killing me as well even though I know how it's going to end.**

**So, I was talking to a friend of mine who said that she did not like Dica because she felt that Dica was trying to take Jack away from Elsa and I was wondering if any of you felt the same way? I really hope not, because I tried to make it clear that there was _not_ going to be a love triangle between the three of them and that there weren't going to be any romantic feelings like that between Jack and Dica (because this IS a Jelsa fic). So, if you review, could you tell me what you think about their relationship? Because my friend sees love triangles in EVERYTHING (like she saw one with Vengeance and Elsa) so I'm trying to figure out if it's just her or if I wasn't making it obvious enough. Thanks!**

**Also, I have gotten several PMs with ideas for the wedding and, I just want to say, that I LOVE how excited everyone is about it! If you come across something online that you think would be great at the wedding, PM it to me and we can discuss it. ESPECIALLY if you have any ideas about what Jack could wear because I'm drawing a blank. I know I'm keeping him barefooted because that just seems like something that he would do but as far as the suit ... nothing I can find really says "Jack Frost" to me ...**

**If you have any questions about the story, don't hesitate to ask. I don't mind answering questions - just don't expect any spoilers.**

**Thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews!**

**Zerlinda**


	15. Chapter 15: Frozen (Jack's POV)

**Okay, so I mentioned in one of my author notes in the Snow Queen that I wasn't really good at writing battle/fight scenes, but (when I looked back on it) I found myself regretting not having one in it so I decided to give it a shot in the Snow King.**

**Over 100 follows! Yay! =D You guys are the best!**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Frozen (Jack's POV)**

The cracking of a whip made me look up from Elsa's locket. Mere centimeters from my face was Vengeance's sword, held back only by Sandy's whip of golden sand. Sandy jerked on the whip and the sword flew from the pale orange hand. With the other whip, Sandy forced Vengeance's hand back sharply. He lost balance, sending another explosion of power through the room and effectively distracting Sandy with returning Annalise to sleep so she wouldn't wake up and start panicking.

"Get her out of here!" I shouted to Sandy, but he couldn't. The whole place was burning and falling apart around us. All we could do was keep fighting.

North charged forward with his swords in his hands. Vengeances managed to retrieve his own sword from the ground. He blocked and dodged the Russian's strikes with seeming ease, moving the large sword in his hand as if it was a baton even though it must have weighed a ton. He was toying with North.

Eventually, he must have grown bored because he slammed the hilt of his sword against North's temple and North's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell to the ground, but Bunny hopped up to take his place.

Puffs of colorful smoke sprouted everywhere as Bunny threw his Easter Eggs at Vengeance who only laughed while being engulfed by the bright pastel clouds. The smoke hid him from view and Bunny barely managed to block the sword with a boomerang as Vengeance struck from behind. However, under the force of the blow, the boomerang broke in half and Bunny staggered backwards as he tried to regain his balance.

Tooth, having recovered from her run-in with the crumbling wall, flew towards him at full speed, taking one of North's sword from his unconscious body. She fought hard and valiantly, but her swordsmanship was severely out of practice and Vengeance was easily able to overpower her. Seeing that his friend was in danger, Sandy tossed a ball of dream sand at Vengeance. Bunt then Vengeance ducked to dodge a swing of a sword and the dream sand hit Tooth instead, knocking her out.

Dica was ready again, thought, and swung her right leg up high enough to land a good, hard, solid kick to Vengeance's jaw. Momentarily distracted by the sudden attack, Vengeance rubbed his jaw but recovered quickly enough to narrowly avoid the sharp edge of one of her daggers. The blade managed to cut through one of his sleeves and break skin in a long thin line.

This only seemed to excite him further, however, and he smiled down at her. His yellow eyes stared into her hazel ones for a moment and she held the eye contact without a hint of a blink or flinch. A loud groan sounded through the interior of the Castle as the structure deteriorated under the heat of the persistent flames. The sound brought Dica and Vengeance out of their staring contest and back to reality, resuming the fight.

When Dica had told me that she could "take care of herself" in the hallway before we entered the room, I hadn't realized just how serious of a statement it was. But she delivered kick after slice after punch after kick in such quick succession that even Vengeance looked as if he was struggling to keep up. I guess practicing all of that ballet did more than tell stories.

It wasn't good enough, though, as Vengeance managed to disarm her, flicking her daggers to opposite sides of the burning room. Dica was not deterred by this and kept kicking and punching until Vengeance swept her feet out from under her, knocking her to the floor on her back and forcing the air out of her lungs.

I searched the rubble around me for my staff, slipping Elsa's locket into the pocket of my hoodie. I would give it back to her later, but right now my staff should be around here somewhere ...

My fingers made contact with the wood and I gripped it tightly with both hands as I came onto my feet. Vengeance was preoccupied with fighting Bunny who was throwing his best kicks and punches. He was moving so quickly that he looked like a blur of grey and white fur, but Vengeance had the distinct advantage of wielding a sword and Bunny was cautious with his only non-broken boomerang.

Broken pieces of furniture and rubble stabbed into my feet as I walked across the room. The pain made me rethink my earlier decision to not wear shoes before I disregarded the thought. After being bare-footed for all this time, shoes would be much more distracting than any sort of debris ever could.

Vengeance's chuckle alerted me to the fact that Bunny was losing the fight. I swung my staff above my head and sent a stream of ice to the back of his head, Under the intense heat of the flickering flames around us, the ice melted to water practically instantly but still served its purpose of distracting Vengeance who slowly turned his head to look at me over his shoulder with glaring yellow eyes, giving Bunny the opportunity that he needed.

Harsh contact with Bunny's foot to Vengeance's abdomen caused Vengeance to double over as his breath was knocked out of him. I flew down for the final blow to the head that would knock him unconscious, but a black cloud of ash burst from him and, though my staff connected with _something, _I couldn't be sure with what.

The ash in the air burned my eyes and lungs as I tried to look for Vengeance, my staff held ready in my hands. My eyes squinted to keep the ash out, but it still impaired my vision and didn't improve my situation. Suddenly, I spotted a speck of gold sand through the ash as the tip of one of Sandy's whips raced in my direction.

On instinct, I dropped to the debris covered floor and rolled over onto my side just as the golden whip toppled Vengeance to the ground where I had been standing mere milliseconds before. There was a sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized that I must have knocked out Bunny with my staff earlier.

Scraping along the hardwood floor, the flaming sword slid out of Vengeance's grasp and I reached for it, gripping the hilt firmly before letting it drop back to the floor with a shout of pain. The damn thing was _hot!_ As if it had just come out of a volcano.

I shook my hand, trying to alleviate some of the pain from the flaming metal. Inspecting my hand, I saw an imprint of the design of the hilt - quite literally - burned into my skin. But it was rapidly healing, not even leaving a single trace of a scar.

Golden sand of a whip wrapped itself around Vengeance's ankle and Sandy began slinging him around in ever possible direction. The short, round man took particular care to make sure his enemy hit plenty of hard surfaces until the end of the whip lost its grip mid-swing, sending Vengeance flying straight into the wall.

Annalise began to stir, most likely uncomfortable from the heat and loud noises. Her movements drew Sandy's attention away from Vengeance as he moved to put her back to sleep before she could become aware of what was happening around her. Miraculously (or unfortunately) Vengeance wasn't knocked out cold. No. Instead, he leaned against a broken wall and smiled up at me.

His face was covered in cuts and bruises. One of his eyes were already swollen shut as blood flowed from his nose like lava. But as I watched, his injuries healed right before my eyes and he came to his feet quite steadily for someone who just had his head repeatedly slammed into every surface imaginable.

I wasn't freaked out by how fast his injuries had healed themselves. My own did the same all the time; the burn on my had was already completely gone. Gripping my staff in both of my hands, I crouched low in a defensive position, ready to fight.

Vengeance walked closer to me at a slow, almost lazy pace as he held out his hand. His sword flew to him, landing in the palm of its master as he continued to make his way closer to me. The manner in which he approached was not one of a rage-ridden opponent. It was one of a calm and patient predator. After all, this is what he lived for.

Flames started to lick higher up the walls and the building groaned again in protest. This place wasn't going to last much longer. It was rapidly becoming weak and all too soon it would collapse on top of us. We needed to get Annalise out of here.

Turning my back on Vengeance, I ran to he window and used my staff to break the glass. It shattered into a million shards and the fire inside flared up at the burst of oxygen. I looked at Sandy who was holding Annalise in her arms.

"Go!" I yelled. "Get her out of here!"

With an expression of determination on his face, he gave me a single, sharp nod and floated through the window taking care to avoid the flames. A recovering Dica was helping North, who was just waking up, to his feet.

Tooth was also waking up and took Dica's place as she and North hobbled to the window. I held out a hand to help her climb onto the window seat. Tooth looked down out of the window hesitantly.

"Do you need help?" I asked and she nodded. I didn't blame her. North was a heavy man and holding up Jamie - who was _maybe_ a quarter of his weight at the very most - by myself was hard enough.

Pulling one of North's arms over my shoulders, I saw Tooth do the same and we flew him down to the snow-covered ground where Sandy was waiting with Annalise still in his arms. I immediately flew back up to the burning room where Dica was struggling to help Bunny onto the window seat while only a small portion of the Pooka was awake.

Glancing around the room, I noticed that Vengeance was nowhere to be seen. I looked at Dica as I hauled Bunny over my shoulders. He really needed to lay of the carrots.

"Where's Vengeance?" I shouted over the roaring flames of the fire. Dica shook her head and shrugged her shoulder, coughing violently as she accidentally breathed in some ash and smoke.

"I don't know," she rasped. "He just disappeared." Deciding that it would have to be addressed in more detail later, I carried Bunny down to where the others were as Dica held on to Tooth who had flown up to help.

Fresh air had never felt so good in my lungs as it did in that moment as I drank it in repeatedly after all that time of breathing in ash and smoke. Bunny was still out, laying on the snow. I guess I hit him a bit too hard. Oops.

"We're safe," I panted and everyone smiled there agreement but a loud malicious chuckle rang clearly through the air, ending all feelings of relief.

"You did not seriously think that you could be rid of me _that_ easily, did you?" Vengeance asked. We all turned towards the noise. He was standing many meters away with a bow and arrow that looked to be fashioned out of ash and coal in his hands. He raised the bow, pulling back on the string. "I told you that, if you did not surrender, the girl would die. And I like to be a man of my word." And with that, he released the string and the arrow soared through the air towards Annalise.

**_"No!"_** Before any of us could do anything, a figure stepped directly into the arrow's path and the weapon shattered against it, releasing a force that was so strong it sent Vengeance flying backwards into the burning castle as it collapsed upon itself.

Nobody said anything. I don't think anyone _could_. Everyone was in shock. Except, of course, for Bunny and Annalise who were both still out of it. Blissfully ignorant of what had just occurred. Because the figure that had stepped in front of Annalise, was Elsa. She was still dressed in only her nightgown and her hair was completely loose. She was standing there, still in mid-turn with her hair flying in a circular motion behind her and her hand outstretched to block the arrow. But there was something else that kept everyone quiet. Something bigger than the fact that it was Elsa.

She had frozen to solid, black ice.

* * *

**Oh my gosh! Elsa is frozen! o.O**

**Sorry if the fight scene sucked ... I did warn you I wasn't great at them.**

**Remember that the poll for Elsa's wedding dress is still up and my question from the author's note in the last chapter regarding Jack and Dica's relationship (Do you see a Dica/Jack/Elsa love triangle?) still stands. So far, all of the responses I have gotten said no, which is good because I was getting worried since that's not the case or what I was intending at all!**

**Another question is ... after a discussion with some of my friends at school who read my fanfics, they suggested that I should make Dica a Guardian. What do you all think? The idea actually has some appeal to me, but I want to get your opinion.**

**Don't forget that if you see something online that you think will be great for the wedding (decorations, outfits, cake, etc) please share and I will be more than willing to discuss it! I'm only 18 and I don't plan on getting married for many more years, so I don't know EVERYTHING that goes into planning a wedding.**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, please do not hesitate to ask. I will answer them as soon as possible without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all of the favorites, reviews and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	16. Chapter 16: Black Ice (Elsa's POV)

**Okay, so I got a lot of questions regarding how/why Elsa froze to black ice, and I think that this chapter explains that a lot better than the last chapter because it's in Elsa's POV. Nonetheless, if you're still confused then I'm posting an explanation in the author's note at the end of the chapter.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Black Ice (Elsa's POV)**

Wind blew harshly around me as I flew in the direction of the city. My body was vibrating with violent shivers from the cold. My entire face was completely numb along with my hands and feet. I kept my hands clenched under my arms in attempt to reserve body heat, but the wind was too cold a it pushed and pulled at my still black hair roughly in every direction.

Pain sprouted from my chest. A constant, sharp burning pain that did nothing to alleviate the nipping cold that filled me. The pain sparked again unexpectedly, making me cry out and press a hand over my heart. It kept burning and burning, bringing tears to my eyes and forcing me to stop flying as I was too distracted by it to pay attention to where I was going.

Slowly, the pain died down to a dull ache and I breathed normally again. The wind still howled relentlessly around me and the setting sun provided little comfort against the biting chill. Snowflakes flurried with it, landing on my skin with touches so cold they seemed to burn. I blinked rapidly, my eyes becoming dry in the freezing air.

Arendelle's Castle was so far away. I could barely make out it's form through the blizzard around me. From this distance, it looked small enough for me to hold it up on the tip of my finger. But something was wrong. Black smoke billowed from the building. The Castle was on fire. It was burning to the ground and it didn't take a genius to figure out who caused such a fire.

_Jack._

He was in there. I had to get to him. I struggled to stand on my feet, still weak from the nonstop nightmares and the cold. But this wasn't right. I should have healed from the nightmares already and the cold shouldn't affect me so much. It never did this to me, even when I was human. What was happening to me?

Black covered my vision as the wind shoved my hair in front of my eyes. Lifting a hand to pull it out of the way, I realized that my fingers didn't feel quite right. They were cold. Too cold. Freezing to the slightest touch and hard. Much too hard for it to be skin.

Looking down at my hands, a gasp left my lips and my eyes widened at what they saw. A pattern of swirls and snowflakes made by grey frost covered my hands, reaching down to the bottom of my forearms. The tips of my fingers had turned into solid black ice.

I felt all the air leave my lungs. pain ripped through my body from my chest and it was so great that it brought me to my knees as I screamed out, clutching a hand over my heart. Oh, how it hurt. I had never felt such physical pain before in my life.

The reason I had been so scared as I stood in my Ice Castle in my nightmare had become a reality. I had gotten too caught up in the moment of having succeeded in waking myself up and worrying about Jack and Annalise, that I had forgotten my reservations. Forgotten why I was so hesitant in the first place and now my fears were no longer just in my nightmares.

My heart was frozen.

Everything seemed to be against me. First, my own mind relentlessly tortured me with nightmare after nightmare for who knows how long. Then it purposefully kept me from waking myself up and now ... now my own powers, my own ice, was attacking my heart as it worked its way through my body, freezing me alive.

"Come on," I told myself through gritted teeth. "Get _up._ Jack is in trouble. Fight it." I forced myself to my feet and propelled my snowflake forward. It took a lot more effort than it usually did in my weakened state, but I kept pushing.

Harsh winds and icy temperatures around me did nothing to help me in my predicament. On the contrary, the wintery forces of nature only made it worse. So much worse. It aided the ice in its quest to surmount my body, speeding up the process. Goosebumps raised on my skin and I cold feel more grey frost creep up my arms, legs and neck in an intricate pattern of swirls and snowflakes.

Arendelle's castle was still burning in the distance, shining through the blizzard of snow like a beacon. The fire had spread too much. There was no hope of saving my childhood home, even if the fire was put out in that instant. Too much damage had been done. But I didn't care about the castle.

Jack was inside that burning castle somewhere, fighting Vengeance. And Annalise ... she was asleep. At least, assuming that everything in that nightmare had been true. If she was asleep, she wouldn't even have the opportunity to escape. To save herself. I didn't have time to be weak! They needed me. I had fought this long, I could fight just a little bit longer, right? For Jack and Annalise.

But now, it wasn't _only_ about being strong and fight it. Now, I was on a clock and it was ticking quickly as I pushed the snowflake onward with a great amount of effort. I could feel it. My own ice was beginning to encase my heart. Running my tongue along my numb lips, I tasted the chill of frost that had grown over them in a thin layer.

In spite of having been asleep for who knows how long, I could feel the warm dark touch of drowsiness creep into my mind. Tempting me to fall back into its welcoming folds. And, oh, was I tempted. The warmth of sleep was much more preferable to the cold and biting reality that I was currently in.

Nonetheless, I rejected its embrace. My reality might be freezing and harsh right now, but it had Jack in it. And Annalise. Two things that not even my dreams could surpass. That touch of darkness might be sweet and welcoming right now, but I wasn't fooled. I knew what awaited me in that touch - nightmares.

Still though, I was weak. Mentally and emotionally drained from constantly combating all of those nightmares and my physical strength was deteriorating by the second under the forces of nature and the power of the ice in my heart that I had placed there myself.

Vengeance really was a cruel, sick person. He knew this would happen. That's why he was so nonchalant when I told him that I would wake up. because he knew that, in order for me to wake up, I would have to doom myself in some other fashion. Like freezing my heart.

He also knew that Jack wouldn't be able to resist the chance to obtain a little revenge. Which is why he lured Jack away from me - to ensure that when I _did_ freeze my heart, that Jack would be too far away to save me. He knew that, even if the other Guardians were out looking for him while Jack stayed at my side, they would _have_ to get him to fight if they were going to even have a chance of beating him. They would need all of the help they could get.

And Annalise he had taken just for good measure. If the other Guardians found him, there was a chance that they would fight if Jack refused to leave my side. But they would have been able to take 'no' as an answer from Jack if they knew that he had a child in his possession. They would be duty-bound to fight.

My snowflake was flying much slower than it usually did. Or maybe it wasn't. Perhaps it was going just as fast as every other time and it just _felt_ like it was going slower due to my urgency, impatience, and newly discovered affectedness to the cold.

Grey frost traveled further up my legs and arms and, when I licked my lips again, I could taste the faintest hint of the edges beginning to turn into ice. It was no longer only the tips of my fingers that were made of black ice. Now, it was down to my knuckles. This wasn't good.

The wind blew roughly around me again and I reluctantly started to lower myself to the city sidewalks below. The Castle of Arendelle was still a ways away, but the high altitude at which I had been flying meant colder temperatures. And the colder the temperature, the quicker my heart would freeze.

I still flew on my snowflake, however, levitating several inches above the concrete sidewalk as I continued making my way towards the flaming castle. Black smoke still rose high above the tops of the other buildings from its location.

Pain erupted from my chest again, ten times worse than before, forcing me to my knees as I clutched the skin over my heart. It was so intense that it brought tears to my eyes and I lost my focus, causing the giant snowflake underneath me to disappear.

Falling down those few inches barely registered in my mind through the pain. Nor did the rough contact of my knees slamming into the rutty texture of the sidewalk. people walked through me as they pushed and shoved each other, trying to get to the castle to satisfy their curiosity.

Eventually, the pain evaporate to a dull ache. Still remaining present, but becoming bearable once again. I could feel my toes harden into solid black ice, but I paid no mind to this. The moment the pain allowed me to, I raised myself up onto my feet and started running towards the castle which was a good distance away, judging by the billowing smoke. My bare feet hit the pavement harshly and repetitively as I ran as fast as I possibly could. How did Jack go barefoot like this everyday?

Turning a corner, I found the castle to be much closer than I had originally thought it to be. I stopped in front of the building, staring up at it. The whole place was lit brightly in burning flames whose heat did nothing to lessen the chill of ice in my heart and I had no clue where Jack and Annalise were. Then I remembered that Annalise had been laying in my bed during my nightmare and ran around the building, planning to go in through the window.

Glass shattering to pieces reached my ears as I was making my way around the corner of the castle. It was the window of my old bedroom. Watching, I saw Sandy float out with Annalise in his arms. For a moment, I waited with baited breath for Jack to come out and, after some time, he did, helping Tooth carry a half-awake looking North to the ground before flying back up to help Bunny while Tooth took care of Dica.

_"Jack,"_ I tried to say, but no sound came out. They were at the far end of the castle and I ran towards them. Movement near the burning building caught my eye. It was Vengeance holding a bow and arrow made of ash and coal in his hands as he smiled at he group maliciously.

"You did not seriously think that you could be rid of me _that_ easily, did you?" He asked, making them all turn to look at him. "I told you that, if you didn't surrender, the girl would die. And I like to be a man of my word."

I was still running, my feet pounding into the debris covered grass, as Vengeance raised his bow. He aimed, pulled back on the drawstring and released it in one deliberate motion. The arrow soared through the air, quickly closing he distance between it and the target, Annalise.

_**"No!"** _I forced the word out, barely managing to intercept the arrows path as I turned my body towards it with an outstretched hand.

One last burst of cold pain spread from my chest as the arrow approached me and I felt ice cover my entire body, freezing me in place. Black engulfed my vision once again and I was frozen in a statue of black ice.

* * *

**For those of you who are still confused, here is the explanation I PMed people:**

**To wake herself up, she had to shoot ice into her heart which froze the ash in her heart, but also froze the heart itself. Before the ash was frozen, it spread through her system (kind of like blood does) and when she froze the ash, she got rid of the source but the rest of the ash was still in her which made the ice black when her ice froze her heart.**

**So ... I've gotten mixed reviews about Dica becoming a Guardian so I made a poll that you should be able to find on my profile. Go ahead and vote; I can make it work whether or not the ultimate decision is yes or no since both choices have a certain amount of appeal to me.**

**Also, icequeen85 has asked me to put up a poll for the cake being used and I have done that, so if you would like to see the top two choices for cake design that I've found, again, you should be able to see them and vote for them on my profile.**

**Additionally, angeldragonqueen has kindly offered to help plan the wedding. But if anyone else has any ideas or see something that you think would be perfect, then please share! For Jack's outfit, I'm thinking about having him wear dress pants, a light blue collared shirt, a dark blue waistcoat and a tie. What do you all think? My decision was inspired by the picture of this link (just erase the spaces): siquia. deviantart art/In-a-Black-Tuxedo-346520298. If you copy and paste it into Google, it should be the first non-ad link shown.**

**Just a heads up, I think I'm going to close down the poll for Elsa's wedding dress this week, so if you haven't voted already and want to vote, please be sure to do that as soon as possible! Thanks.**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, don't hesitate to ask. I will answer them as soon as possible without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	17. Chapter 17: Thawed (Jack's POV)

**Chapter 17: Thawed (Jack's POV)**

_**"Elsa!"**_I yelled when my mind finally processed what just happened. I ran to stand in front of her frozen form, cupping her face as if to prove to myself that this wasn't really happening. Her eyes stared widely in fear, determination, and pain ahead of her, frozen like that forever. "No, Elsa," I whispered. She couldn't be _gone._ Not after all of this and she had been awake mere moments before.

Grief and anger mingled together as I fell to my knees in front of her. It was as if she was a statue sculpted out of black ice by Elsa herself, but that wasn't the case. This wasn't an ice sculpture _of_ Elsa; this _was_ Elsa. Violent sobs wracked through my body as my head dropped and my fingers gripped my hair. I could feel pieces of ash and debris tangled in the strand but I couldn't care less at this point.

She was gone. How could she just be _gone?_ How did I let this happen? I loved her! I was going to propose! Now, I'll never get the chance to ask her and the ice ring I had made suddenly felt a lot heavier from within the pocket of my hoodie. A symbol of what could have been. A bitter reminder of what I lost and what would never find again.

I felt utterly lost. Like how I did before I became a Guardian. Before I had a purpose. My purpose used to be the Guardian of Fun, but then I met Elsa and that all changed. _She_ became my purpose but now she had frozen to solid black ice and, once again, my purpose was gone. Without her, I had no desire for anything _fun._

"Please, no," I whispered between gasps of breath. "Don't do this to me, Elsa. Don't go to a place where I can't follow." My hear was breaking inside my chest. I threw my staff far away from me. Now, I fully understood Elsa's fear and hatred of her powers when I first met her. This grief was overwhelming and all-consuming. It swallowed you whole and kept you there under lock and key. I didn't want my powers anymore. I didn't want to produce the same substance that had taken the one thing I loved most away from me.

"Jack," Tooth said quietly, but my fragile emotional state made me snap.

"Don't tell me that you're sorry or that she's in a better place, or ... or that she wouldn't want me to cry for her. I don't want to hear it." I just wanted to be left alone.

"I would not say, 'do no weep,'" Dica said. "For not all tears are in evil. ... But, Jack, Elsa's-"

"No!" I shouted, cutting her off. The moment those words were physically said would be the moment it would all become too real. "Don't say it." I was barely holding on to my sanity as it was.

"But, Jack-" North began, but I cut him off too.

"Don't!" Why didn't they understand?

"Jack," a different voice rasped before the sound of a body falling to the ground in front of me. That voice. I knew that voice. It was all too familiar to me. But it couldn't be real. I would never hear that voice again. _"Jack,"_ it said again, more insistent this time.

I looked up, daring to hope and saw Elsa lying on the grass in front of me, completely thawed. Her hair had returned to its rightful platinum blonde color. She gave me a weak smile as her blue eyes filled with tears. I crawled closer to her and reached out a hand, hesitating mere centimeters away from her cheek. What if this was a hallucination? What if my hand went right through her?

All of my doubts and questions stopped when she placed a soft warm hand over mine, pressing it to her face as a couple of tears fell from her eyes. My hand connected with her skin - it didn't go through her. A breath that I didn't know I was holding left my lungs as I smiled in disbelief, a few more of my own tears running down my wet cheeks.

"Elsa?" I asked, my voice thick and raw from my sobs and yelling. I scooted closer to her, moving my other hand so that I was cupping her face as she nodded tearfully.

"It's me, Jack," she assured me. Her voice was rough, but still recognizable. It _was_ her. She was right here, breathing and talking to me, _alive._

Not wasting another second, I gathered her in my arms, perhaps holding her a little too tightly but - since she didn't protest - I didn't care. She was alive and awake in my arms. That's all I cared about. I pressed my face into her hair, drinking in her scent and listening to her heartbeat. There aren't enough words in any language that could possibly begin to describe the numerous emotions running through me in that moment.

But then she started to push me away and I pulled back, confused, only to have her roll off of my lap and start heaving onto the grass. Soon enough, black ash spilled from her mouth. I hurried to hold her hair away from her face as her body continued to cleanse itself of the unwanted substance. Eventually, less and less ash came out with every heave until it stopped all together and she was left gasping for air. A small tap on my shoulder made me look up from Elsa who had fall back into my arms with her head resting against my shoulder. Dica was holding out her silver water bottle to me. I took it and nodded my thanks before twisting the cap open and pressing the container to Elsa's lips.

Her hands shook as they came up to hold the bottle, taking a sip and spitting it back onto the ground to rinse her mouth before drinking several more gulps. When I handed the water bottle back to Dica, it was completely empty, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Sorry," Elsa croaked.

"Don't worry about it," Dica replied with a smile. "But we should probably get you back home."

I nodded in agreement and hooked one arm under her knees and the other around her waist as I stood up. "You guys can go," I said. "I'll take care of her." I started to walked away, but I only managed to get a few meters between us and the others when a burning hand clamped down on my shoulder. I cried out in pain as the heat seared through the fabric of my hoodie, but my grip on Elsa only tightened.

"Not so fast," Vengeance's voice hissed into my ear. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that his face was close to mine, his eyes burning with rage. Suddenly his head was jerked back by his hair and a silver blade ran deeply over his throat, making him fall to his knees. Dica stood behind him, glaring down at the man with her lip slightly curled in disgust as she watched him bleed out.

"I really do hate that guy," she said, glancing up at me. "That should keep him detained for a good long while, thought. Come on, I'll give you a lift home - it's faster and the sooner we get away from that fire, the better. In the meantime," she picked up my staff and handed it to me. I grabbed it, still holding Elsa in my arms. "You're going to need that. Lets go." She gripped my shoulder with one hand while holding Tooth's hand with the other. Tooth took North's hand who had Bunny over his shoulder and Sandy flew off into the sky to take Annalise home.

Black took over my sight again as I felt myself turn to ink. It was a creepy feeling; like ice cold water was trickling over my skin. When I blinked, we were standing in the sculpture room in front of the unfinished ice stature of Annalise that Elsa had been working on before all of this happened. I glanced down at Elsa who was sleeping in my arms. Her face was peaceful enough, but after everything it sent a strike of panic through me to see her sleeping. I looked up at Dica with fearful eyes and she gave me a reassuring smile.

"She's fine, Jack," she told me. "She's just mentally, emotionally, and physically drained. Her body's simply healing itself." Her words calmed me, but I was still worried as I carried her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed, covering her with he blankets. Dica leaned against the open door. "You should probably get some rest, too," she suggested. "I can only imagine how exhausted you are after all of this."

"I can't," I said, no matter how true her words were. As a spirit, I never really ever got _tired_. It was more like a burned-out feeling. Like my brain was fried. "What if Vengeance comes back? I have to be ready."

Dica scoffed. "Well, you're not going to beat him if you're about to pass out. Besides, he's not going to be back for a while. Once he's done healing, he'll probably find a nice volcano and plot World War III before he attempts to get revenge."

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's how he works," she explained with a shrug. "Much like his brother; he likes to keep under the radar after a defeat before he comes back." She paused. "Really, Jack, she's going to be okay. Get some rest." She turned to leave, but stopped when I spoke.

"Thank you, Dica."

She turned back to look at me and blinked, a surprised expression coming over her face. "For what?"

"Everything. You didn't have to hide us from Vengeance or fight him with us or anything, but you did." She nodded, considering my statement.

"You know," she said. "You remind me of an older brother that I had when I was human. He was always causing trouble and playing with the kids in the neighborhood. My death devastated him. We had lost out parents to the plague, so we only had each other."

My brow furrowed. "Are you-"

"No," she interrupted. "I'm not your sister. As I said; we lost out parents to the plague, so it was before your time. And my brother was still alive when I died." She looked at me. "Your sister was okay, Jack. She married a good man, had two health kids and lived a fairly long life for the time period. She never forgot what you did for her." I let a smile touch the corners of my lips and nodded. "I'll see you later." And she left the room. I could hear the sound of a snowglobe break as North returned to the Pole, probably with Bunny in tow.

Tooth came in to place a gentle hand on my shoulder in comfort and smiled at me before flying through the window. I watched her go as I sat down in the chair that I had made beside Elsa's bed. Sandy floated through the window silently. He waved at me and I gave him a small smile in return.

"Hey, Sandy," I whispered.

Pointing to Elsa's sleeping form, he made question mark above his head.

"Dica said that she's alright," I told him. "She said that her body is just healing itself. Did you get Annalise home alright?"

He gave me two thumbs up and nodded. I turned my attention back to Elsa, hoping that she wasn't having a nightmare n spite of the peaceful expression on her face. Sandy, probably sensing my thoughts, sent a ribbon of dream sand over to her and it played out her dream of building a snowman with Anna above her head. I smiled a genuine smile at the short, round man.

"Thanks, Sandy."

His only response was to form a ball of dream sand in his hand and quirk an eyebrow at me as he tossed it up and down. I laughed

"Alright, alright," I said, holding my hands up in surrender. "Just let me at least get comfortable before you knock me out, okay?"

Taking his lack of response as his consent, I walked to the other side of the bed and leaned my staff against the nearby wall of ice before climbing onto the bed next to Elsa, under the blankets. I wrapped my arms protectively around her waist and pulled her close to me so that her head was resting on my chest. There was no way I was going to sleep without Elsa after what just happened. Sandy watched my movements from the foot of the bed, waiting. I gave him a sharp nod.

"Okay, Sandy," I said. "I'm ready." The ball of dram sand hit my head softly and I fell into a deep sleep instantly with dreams of me and Elsa and our future together.

* * *

**Hi everyone! You didn't seriously think I was going to kill Elsa off did you? I hope not! ;)**

**So (because I'm a noob with the poll thing) just realized that I can only have one poll shown on my profile at a time, so I'm going to close the poll for Elsa's wedding dress today. I'll put the link for the winning dress on my profile, so don't worry. I'm putting up the poll for the cake today, so please be sure to vote on that and as for the Dica becoming a Guardian poll ... I've decided to cancel that. So far, the majority say that I shouldn't make her a Guardian. However, the question still stands so feel free to tell me your thoughts in a PM or review.**

**If you have any questions about the story, feel free to ask me and I'll answer as soon as possible without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all of the follows, favorites, and review!**

**Zerlinda**


	18. Chapter 18: Bittersweet (Elsa's POV)

**Wow! So, great response to the last chapter. Thanks for all of the amazing reviews (that's the most reviews I've ever gotten on a single chapter) you guys are wonderful!**

**For the guest who mentioned chocolate: Of COURSE the cake is going to be chocolate! Chocolate is amazing!**

**So, I'm so sorry for what's about to happen in this chapter, but I just had to do it ...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Bittersweet (Elsa's POV)**

Cold. That's what I would say to anyone who asked me 'What was it like being frozen to solid ice?' I wasn't dead as I couldn't die, but I _was_ frozen solid. Black still dominated my vision, but I could hear what was going on though the voices were too muffled for me to be able to make out any words. It was like I was in that stage of sleep where, just before I woke up, my eyes were still closed and I was technically still asleep, but was still aware of everything that was going on around me. I wonder if this is how it was for Anna.

I was able to make out Jack's voice. He yelled out something that sounded like my names before he started speaking too quietly for me to make out anything else. There were more muffled murmurs. As if everyone was trying to speak without opening their mouths.

Warmth. Blessed warmth started to spread from my chest. Not the warm of the sharp pains that I had been having before I froze into solid ice. This was more like a caress, a comfort. Like having a soft warm blanket placed around my shoulders. The voices of the others around me were still muffled as my ears had yet to be thawed. The warmth from my heart slowly spread down my torso.

"But, Jack-" I heard North begin as the ice of my ears thinned, but Jack cut him off.

"Don't!" He snapped. He sounded so broken ... so lost. I could hear him sobbing.

"Jack," I said as the black ice left my lips, my voice was rough and quiet. My body finished thawing and, without the firm support that the ice had provided, my knees buckled and I fell to the ash and snow covered ground. Jack was on his knees in front of me, pressing his head into the snow as he cried and his fist pounded into the ground next to him. It broke my heart to see him like that, so overcome with grief, and I tried again to get his attention. _"Jack."_

He finally looked up, his expression of despair changed to one of hope and disbelief when he saw me. I forced a smile onto my face through the tears that filled my eyes, blurring my vision. This was _my_ Jack. NOth the nightmare Jack that I had been seeing, though I half feared that that was also what this was going to turn out to be. A nightmare. My eyes never left his as he crawled closer to me, reaching out a hand and hovering it centimeters away from my face.

Doubt and worry filled his ice blue eyes as he refused to touch me, as if he was worried that I was disappear the moment he did. But he wasn't the only one who needed reassurance. I needed to know that this was real too and I pressed his hand to my face. It was so warm and I closed my eyes to fully absorb the feeling, a few tears falling from my eyes as I did so. His breath washed over my face, making me savor the moment even more.

"Elsa?" He asked as if he was refusing to allow himself to believe what he was seeing, what he was feeling. His voice was rough from all of the stress he had put on his vocal cords as he came closer to me and held my face in his hands.

"It's me, Jack," I nodded, more tears falling down my cheeks and a smile appeared on his own tear-stained face. A beautiful smile.

Then, before I could blink, he had pulled me onto his lap with his arms wrapped around me so tightly that I could barely breathe, but I didn't mind one bit and happily returned his embrace. My face pressed into the crook of his neck and shoulder as I drank in his scent, allowing it to surmount my senses and all the doubts that still resided in the back of my mind vanished.

My stomach suddenly twisted and turned and I started to push Jack away as I felt something crawling up from my stomach. He pulled back and I immediately rolled off of his lap and heaved a couple of times before ash spilled from my mouth. I felt Jack hold my hair away from my face as I heaved again and again, more ash spilling onto the ground.

Finally, there was nothing left to throw up and I fell back into Jack's arms felling light headed, drained, and physically weak. My eyes felt dry and swollen from my tears and they began to slide close on their own accord, Jack's comforting warmth lulling me into a relaxed state of mind for the first time in what felt like forever.

Something cool touched my lips and I forced my eyes back open to see that Jack was holding Dica's silver water bottle, urging me to drink. With shaking hands, I took the bottle from him and poured some of the liquid into my mouth before spitting it onto the sno to rid my tongue of the disgusting taste of bile and ash. I then lifted the container back up to my lips and drank more of the cool substance, letting it run over and sooth my parched throat. Jack took the bottle from me once I had drank it dry and I realized that I had just taken all of Dica's water.

"Sorry," I said, my voice sounding stronger but still rough.

"Don't worry about it," she said as my eyes started to close again. My eyelids felt so heavy. "But we should probably get you back home."

I felt Jack nod and shift me around so that he could stand up while holding me bridal style. I subconsciously wrapped my arms around his neck. "You guys can go," he said. "I'll take care of her." He started to walk away but gave out a cry of pain, his grip on my tightening and jerking me back from sleep's open arms.

"Not so fast," Vengeance hissed. He did not sound happy, but before anyone could do anything else, a silver blade cut a deep line into his throat and he fell to the ground, revealing Dica standing behind him with a dagger in her hand.

"I really do hate that guy," she said. I tried to pay attention to what she said next, I really did. But the burst of energy from the adrenaline rush at Vengeance's sudden appearance was quickly evaporating. My eyes stared to drift close again as sleep came over me, Dica's words becoming jumbled in my mind.

At first, it was just sleep. No dreams, no nightmares. Just blissful sleep. I don't know how long that continued before a scene stared to form around me. The sun was reflecting off the thick layer of snow that was on the ground, making everything seem brighter. It was peaceful.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" I heard a familiar voice ask me. I smiled and nodded to which Anna laughed joyously as we began to roll balls of snow around, forming our accustomed Olaf-shaped body. We decorated him with sticks, coal, and a carrot nose before sitting down in the snow a few meters away to admire our work. "So..." Anna said, giving me a slight nudge with her shoulder. "This boyfriend of yours, Jack, is cute." I blushed, but didn't say anything. "I like him," she continued. "He's good for you."

"He is," I agreed with a smile.

She stood up and dusted some snow from the skirt of her dress. "Well, all I can say is that you better say yes."

"What?" I said, my eyebrows coming together as my gaze snapped away from the snowman to look at her. "Yes to what?" But Anna only laughed as she walked away and the scene faded around me.

Her comment was erased from my mind, however, as a new dream began. They continued on like that for a while, all good things and all happy occurrences. It was a more than welcome change from the constant nightmares I had been trapped in.

Eventually, the dreams faded away completely and I started to wake up feeling entirely refreshed. I shifted my body to get more comfortable, rousing my muscles from their drowsy stated, and felt something next to me holding my body to it. Something very warm and with a heartbeat. My yes blinked open and I used a hand to wipe them free of some excess dream sand. I would have to thank Sandy the next time I saw him.

My living pillow took a particularly long breath, drawing my attention back to him. Jack was still sleeping and I smiled as I rested my chin on his chest, brushing a few locks of white hair out of his face with my fingertips. The smile turned into a slight frown when I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Running my thumb under them, I softly kissed the tip of his nose.

He grumbled a bit, waking up but not opening his eyes. "Why are you nipping at my nose?" He mumbled drowsily. "That's suppose to be my job."

I giggled and his lips curved up into a smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"What time is it?" He asked, rubbing a hand over his eyes. I glanced at the source of light shining through the ice ceiling above us.

"Judging by the position of the sun? I'd say about noon."

"Too early," he grumbled, wrapping is arm back around me as he rolled onto his side. I laughed at his childish antics.

"Get up," I told him. "We need to visit Annalise today and make sure she's alright."

"She's fine," Jack mumbled into the pillow. "Sandy kept her knocked out so she won't remember anything and then he took her home last night."

"Nonetheless," I said, wiggling myself free of his warm embrace and climbing out of bed. Using my powers, I changed out of my nightgown and into my typical shirt, boots, and pants outfit. My fingers were making quick work of styling my hair into a textured French braid as Jack _slowly_ got out of bed. Once my hair was done, I turned to face him. "Lets go." And, before he could protest, I flew through the window on a giant snowflake.

The wind still blew vigorously around me, but it no longer bit at my skin. The snowflakes seemed to kiss my face as opposed to burning it. My immunity to the cold had returned and I laughed happily. It felt so _good_ to be normal again. Or ... normal _me_, that is.

Jack followed behind me as I rushed to Annalise's house. We laughed together as we made a race of the short journey. Her bedroom window was cracked open as it nearly always was. She was bent over her desk, writing something on a piece of notebook paper before referring back to the open textbook. She was so focused that she didn't even notice out entrance into her room.

I smiled as I looked at her. Her red hair, which used to belong, had been cut so that it didn't pass her chin. She had grown much more in height and I could see a few red blotches from the acne that was typical of girls going through puberty. There were metal braces on her teeth, decorated with colorful bands. Letting out a frustrated sound, she ran her fingers through her hair.

"Annalise?" Her mother called from downstairs. "Pauline is here to see you."

_"Mom,"_ Annalise protested with a slight wine to her voice. "I can't. I have to finish this report - it's due tomorrow! I don't have time to entertain your friend."

"Annalise Brandon! You come down here right now!"

Grumbling in annoyance, she slammed the textbook shut and stood up from her chair, walking straight through me to shut the door behind her noisily as she left her room.

Downstairs, I could hear the muffled lecture Annalise was receiving from her mother as I remained in that one place in shock. Slowly, I turned my wide eyes to Jack who looked just as shocked as I was. She just walked through me. She couldn't see me. She didn't _believe_ in me anymore. Clearing my throat, I straightened my posture and forced myself to take a deep breath.

"Elsa," Jack said softly. "I am so sorry."

"That's okay," I told him. "You don't have to apologize; you didn't do anything wrong. I knew it was going to happen eventually. She's safe and alive and that's what matters."

"But that doesn't make it any easier," he countered knowingly.

"No," I admitted. "It doesn't." I rolled my hands around each other in circular motions, forming an ice necklace that was identical to the one I had given her in the park five years ago and left it on top of her text book. "We should go."

The fly back to the Ice Castle was no as fun or carefree as the one from it. Both Jack and I remained quiet as we made our way back home, side by side. I was hurt by the fact that Annalise no longer believed in me, but there was nothing I could do. She couldn't believe in me forever and I was very well aware of the fact that, the older she became, the higher those chances grew. I should just be grateful that she was safe after sleeping in that burning castle with Vengeance last night, and I was grateful. Immensely grateful.

It was just bittersweet.

* * *

**Now, I know what everyone wants to know; when is Jack going to propose? Well, his nerves are going to come back to eat at him and he's going to do some procrastination (hints the title of the next chapter "Procrastination") so he won't be popping the question until Chapter 21 which most likely won't be uploaded until next week. Sorry guys!**

**The preference for whether or not Dica should be a Guardian has changed from a 'no' to an overwhelming 'yes.' I mean ... WOW! That changed quickly. The poll for the wedding cake is still up on my profile in case you haven't voted. I will let you know when I'm closing that poll as well.**

**Sorry for the sadness in this chapter, but the rest of the story will be Jack being nervous, the proposal, some of the planning for the wedding, the actual wedding, a little bit after the wedding and then the epilogues which will take place about fifteen years after the wedding where Annalise will come back into play in an indirect sort of fashion. So a lot of fluff. Don't worry, I will put in a notice in the author's note when I'm about to upload the epilogues.**

**If you have any questions regarding the story, please don't hesitate to ask and I will answer as soon as I can without spoilers.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	19. Chapter 19: Procrastination (Jack's POV)

**Okay, you guys have no idea what I had to do to make sure this chapter was written for you all today. I have been super busy because my uncle's birthday is coming up and my aunt has been having me help her with his surprise party that he's planning. On top of that, I've been trying to get his birthday present done (I'm drawing a picture of Jawas - he's a huge Star Wars fan) and I'm not even close to finishing it and the party is Saturday. And then I had to go to my dance class last night and start working on an art portfolio for a scholarship ...**

**Needless to say, I stayed up super late last night so that I could update today so I hop that you like this.**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Procrastination (Jack's POV)**

I was woken up from my sleep by a pair of soft lips pressing against the tip of my nose. _Elsa. _I grumbled a bit at being woken up even though I really couldn't complain since it was Elsa and she was awake.

"Why are you nipping at my nose?" I murmured, refusing to open my eyes. "That's suppose to be my job."

Her musical laugh rang through the air and I couldn't hide the smile that came across my lips at the sound. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

One of my hands rubbed my eyes, freeing them of any leftover dream sand. "What time is it?" Her head moved my on chest.

"Judging by the position of the sun?" I'd say about noon."

_Noon?_ Seriously? We didn't get back to the Ice Castle until the early hours of the morning! Then again, she did go to sleep before I did. Rolling over so that I was laying on my side, I returned my arm to its original position around her waist.

"Too early," I mumbled into the pillow. I don't always sleep, but when I do I don't want to get up. Elsa laughed again and I felt the slight twinge of annoyance at being roused vanish.

"Get up," she insisted. "We need to visit Annalise today and make sure she's alright."

"She's fine," I protested, not wanting to leave out positions in the bed. "Sandy kept her knocked out so she won't remember anything and then he took her home last night."

"Nonetheless," she said as she managed to escape my arms. I remained in bed, trying to regain that peaceful warmth I had before I woke up but it wasn't the same without Elsa by my side. The bed felt too empty and cold so I threw the covers off of me and climbed out of he bed as Elsa finished braiding her hair. "Lets go," she said and flew out of the window before I even had the chance to blink.

Quickly, I ran to the window after her and stopped to watch as she flew on her giant snowflake in a carefree manner. It felt so good to have her back. Not wasting another moment, I jumped over the windowsill with my staff in my hand and followed her towards the city.

The distance between us grew smaller and smaller until I managed to pass her. Them moment she realized this, she increased her speed so that she was once again in the lead. Laughing, I sped up which caused me to pass her yet again and the pattern continued like that with us laughing as we raced through the tall buildings.

When we arrived at Annalise's house, I let her climb through the open window first before entering the room myself, only to remain crouched on the windowsill as I watched Elsa walk further into the room without a sound. Annalise didn't seem to notice our presence as she kept writing persistently at her desk.

Annalise had grown quite a bit in the past five years as all children do. Her head now reached Elsa's shoulders and her once long hair had been cut so short that it didn't even pass her chin. Red blotches caused by the acne that was common in puberty scattered over her face and her teeth were covered by metal braces. She huffed in irritation at her school work , pushing her fingers through the red strands of her hair roughly.

"Annalise?" t was her mom. "Pauline is here to see you." Who's Pauline?

_"Mom,"_ Annalise whined. "I can't. I have to finish this report - it's due tomorrow!" I frowned slightly at that. A school report didn't sound very fun. "I don't have time to entertain your friend."

"Annalise Brandon!" Her mom snapped. Uh oh. The full name treatment was never a good sign. "You come down here right now!"

Though Annalise did not seem very happy with this new arrangement, she closed her textbook forcefully and stomped out of the room with the door slamming closed behind her, walking straight through Elsa in the process. My jaw dropped to he floor. She just walked _through_ Elsa. This girl, who was able to see Elsa before she became a Guardian, no longer believed in the Snow Queen.

Elsa seemed to be just as shocked as I was by these turn of events. She stood there, unmovingly as the sound of Annalise's mother giving her daughter lecture traveled up the stairs and through the closed door. Slowly coming out of her state of shock, Elsa cleared her throat and straightened her posture. I closed my mouth and noticed that she was blinking rapidly to prevent any tears from falling.

"Elsa," I said. "I am so sorry." Those words wouldn't do anything to lessen the pain, I knew. Being immortal and a Guardian, you live through kids not believing in you when they grown older. However, your first believer always hurts the most.

"That's okay," she said. Her voice was surprisingly steady. "You don't have to apologize; you didn't do anything wrong. I knew it was going to happen eventually. She's safe and that's what matters."

"But that doesn't make it any easier," I countered gently, knowing that her train of thought was just her way of dealing with the hurt.

"No. It doesn't," she relented and started to move her hands around each other. She made an ice necklace and placed it on top of Annalise's closed textbook. "We should go."

I nodded my agreement and allowed her to exit the bedroom ahead of me. I followed her back to the Ice Castle without saying a single word. It wouldn't help to tell her that she would have other believers. She already knew that. But none of them would be Annalise - her first. There's a special attachment that a Guardian forms with their first believer. Something just seems to _click_ and once that's lost, the hurt in unbelievable.

But I knew that Elsa was strong. She would get through this alright. I wasn't worried about that. I just knew that it was hard when your first believer walks through you for the first time.

The moment we landed on the balcony, Elsa went into her bedroom. She hadn't spoken a word to me since we left Annalise's house and her silence was starting to worry me. I followed her and leaned against he doorway, watching her as she stared out over the mountain tops through the window.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Are you okay?"

She didn't turn around to look at me. "I'm fine," she replied. There was a pause as neither of us said anything. Shifting my weight so that my back was pressed against the doorway, I put my hands in the pocket of my hoodie. I felt something touch my hand. The ring.

Glancing up at her, I closed my fingers around the ice in my pocket before thinking better of it and walking away. Now wasn't the right time. Not when she was grieving over the loss of her first believer. After all, nobody proposes during a funeral. I would wait a while.

My stomach churned at the thought of proposing. What if she said no? What if she didn't like the ring? What if I stuttered and tripped and made a complete fool of myself? My throat suddenly felt dry as another thought occurred to me. What if she found out before I had the chance to ask her?

Anxiety coursed through me, making my heart beat faster in my chest, my palms grow sweaty and my stomach twist on itself even more. Walking out onto the balcony, I gripped the railing tightly as I gulped in the fresh air. I had hoped that it would help calm my nerves, but it didn't do anything. My mind was still running through every possible thing that could go wrong. The ring could break, she could say no, it could be too soon, she could say no, she could say no. What if she said no?

Running my fingers through my hair, I jumped about a meter into the air when a voice spoke from behind me.

"Jack?" I turned to see Elsa looking at me with worried eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" _That came out a little too quickly._ "I was just thinking, that's all."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing important." _Please drop the subject, please drop the subject, please dr-_

"It must have been important for you to be thinking about it so intensely." _Why did she have to be so persistent?_

"Really, it's nothing," I assured her. "I-I was just thinking about ... visiting Olaf! Yeah, because, you know, I want to make sure that he's alright and stuff at the Pole." _I needed to get away._

"Oh," Elsa said, not sounding very convinced. I've lived for over four hundred years. Where, in that time, did I lose my ability to lie? "Well ... okay. Be back soon ..."

_Finally!_ "I will!" I didn't waste another second to take off into the sky. _Whew,_ talk about a close call. If she didn't know me so well then this would be a whole lot easier on my nerves.

At the North Pole, I found Dica sitting on the couch with a glass of eggnog in her hand as she listened to Olaf's one-sided conversation with a group of elves. She looked up at me as I came in and I was so surprised to see her that I momentarily forgot my anxiety.

"Hey, Jack," she said, giving me a slight wave of her hand. I blinked.

"Hi. ... What are you doing here?" She shrugged.

"I came by for a visit. Olaf is a very interesting snowman aside from the fact that he's alive. How's Elsa doing? Is she still sleeping?"

"Elsa's fine," I said, remembering the reason I was here in the first place. "We woke up around noon."

Dica smiled at that. "Good," she said. "Have you proposed yet?"

"No," I admitted. Dica raised her eyebrows.

"Why not?"

"Because she wanted to go visit Annalise."

She took a sip of eggnog. "And did you?"

"Yes," I sighed, dropping onto the couch next to her. "Annalise doesn't believe in her anymore."

There was a long stretch of silence as Dica absorbed that bit of information.

"Oh," she said eventually. "I'm sorry to hear that." There was another pause as she stared down into her half full glass of eggnog. "So how long are you going to procrastinate before you finally ask her?"

I sputtered. "Procrastinate? Who said I was procrastinating? I can't ask her to marry me right after she found out that her first believer doesn't believe in her anymore!"

She laughed. "I know that, but you came in here looking like you were seconds away from having a panic attack. Imagining the worst?" I didn't say anything. "I'll take that as a yes. Why are you so worried? It's not as if she's going to say no."

"She could," I argued.

"But she's not," Dica countered immediately. "Why would she? Elsa loves you, Jack, and she can't very well leave you for somebody else since most of the other options close to her physical age don't see her. And you can be assured that she has no romantic feelings for Bunny or North."

"What if she thinks it's too soon?" I asked.

_"Please,"_ she scoffed. "Now you're just making up excuses. You've been together for over _five years._ That's a long time to be with somebody you're not married to. Of course I suppose that's not saying much considering there have been marriages that didn't even last a day, but you and Elsa aren't like that."

"What if she doesn't like the ring?" I asked What if the ring breaks? What if I mess up and look stupid? What if-" I was cut off by a sharp slap to the back of my head.

"Snap out of it," Dica scolded me. "Everything is fine. You're going to be fine - you won't look stupid. Nothing is going to go wrong. Everything will be perfect."

The door opened just then, making us look up to see Elsa standing in the doorway. Olaf also saw her and his eyes grew wide as a smile spread across his face and he walked up to her.

"Hey!" He said slowly. "We were just talking about you! All good things, all good things ..."

* * *

**Oh my! How much did Elsa hear? I, personally, loved Dica for jerking Jack out of his hysterics and who doesn't love Olaf?**

**The poll for the cake is still up, and it's really kind of funny. Because when I originally asked about Dica becoming a Guardian I got mixed results. When I mentioned this again, I got a lot of 'no's and then when I said this the majority changed to 'yes' which I mentioned in the last chapter and, wouldn't you know it, I got about three or four reviews saying no. You're really trying to make it hard for me aren't you? Lol, don't worry - I don't mind. ;) I'm still deciding, by the way if you're wondering.**

**As usual, don't hesitate to ask any questions about the story. I will answer ... you guys already know the deal, right? Good. :)**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	20. Chapter 20: Healing (Elsa's POV)

**Chapter 20: Healing (Elsa's POV)**

Tears started to fall down my face as I stared through the window of my bedroom. The snow was glowing in the dim light of the setting sun, reflecting off the changing colors in the sky as night approached. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but it did nothing to numb the hurt that I was feeling.

Annalise no longer believed in me. I knew that it would happen eventually. It just seemed to have come so soon. For me, it felt like it was only yesterday when I saw her crying in the park over her ruined copy of the _Snow Queen_ as boys threw snowballs at her relentlessly. Now, she was a confident girl who was about to become a teenager. Time flew by so quickly, but I suppose I succeeded in making her feel loved in her time of need so I should be happy, right?

"Hey," Jack said in a soft tone from behind me. "Are you okay?"

I didn't turn around to face him. I didn't want him to see my tears. I had cried too much recently and he didn't need to be burdened with it. "I'm fine." I heard him hesitate for a long moment, probably waiting for me to say something else, but left when I remained silent.

My eyes closed as I took a deep breath. I wasn't sobbing, but allowed the salt water to drip down my face from my eyes freely for a minute or two before wiping my cheeks dry with both of my hands. I need to get it together. Annalise wasn't dead. She was healthy and alive and - after what she had unknowingly gone through with Vengeance last night - that was saying a lot. She was growing up and her lack of belief in me proved the fact even more. Now was not the time to grieve for her, but be happy of the woman she was becoming.

Walking out of my bedroom, I saw Jack standing on the balcony with his head hanging low. He was gripping the ice railing so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. I cold tell that he was lost in deep thought by the fact that he didn't notice me as I came closer to him. That, and how he jumped about a meter in the air when I spoke.

"Jack?" I said. "Is something wrong?"

"No!" He answered a little too quickly and loudly to be considered believable. Seeming to realize this, he hurried on to explain. "I was just thinking, that's all."

"What were you thinking about?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing important."

"It must have been important for you to be thinking about it so intensely," I pressed. _Please don't start acting strange again, Jack._

"Really, it's nothing," he tried to assure me. "I-I was just thinking about ... visiting Olaf! Yeah, because, you know, I want to be sure that he's alright and stuff at the Pole."

"Oh," I said, not totally believing his excuse. "Well ... okay. Be back soon..."

"I will!" And he immediately took off into the sky. I frowned as I watched him grow smaller from the balcony. Once again, everything was going fine until something set him off and made him act in the secretive-nervous manner. What was going on? Did he not trust me?

His excuse for going to the North Pole to visit Olaf was a reasonable one. It was better than some of the others I've heard come out of his mouth this past month. I still doubted it though because, if he was _really_ thinking about visiting Olaf, then what would he suddenly become nervous when I asked him what he was thinking about? The only time I've ever heard Jack stutter was when he was nervous.

What cold have set him off? He had been acting perfectly normal up until a few moments ago. The only think that I could think of that was out of the ordinary since I thawed was that Annalise didn't believe in me anymore, but he appeared to have been more concerned with how it was affecting me. Not how Olaf was doing at the North Pole.

The moon was starting to become visible in the darkening sky and I looked up at it, squinting my eyes in an accusing fashion as it shined brightly above me.

"You know why he's acting so odd, don't you?" I accused it in a mock-angry tone. "Could you help me a bit and tell my why?"

As per usual, the Moon did not respond. It only hung there in the sky. Perhaps it the slightest bit brighter, but that could just as easily have been my yes playing tricks on me.

"Of course no," I muttered, glaring up at the silver orb. Sometimes I swear it's mocking me.

I wondered when Jack would be coming back, but then decided that visiting Olaf sounded like a very good idea. It felt like forever since I had last seen my talking snowman and made a giant snowflake to fly off towards the North Pole.

Landing in front of the entrance of North's workshop, I approached the door and walked in, catching the last bit of what Dica had been saying to Jack as they sat on opposite ends of the couch.

"Nothing is going to go wrong," she was saying. "Everything will be perfect." She, Jack, and Olaf all looked up at me in surprise as I entered the building. I stopped in my tracks and stared back at them as the door closed behind me.

"Hey!" Olay said, coming closer to me with a wide smile. "We were just talking about you! All good things, all good things..."

"Really?" I laughed as I kneeled down to give him a warm hug. "What all were you saying about me?" I directed my gaze over to Jack who grew nervous.

"Well, um, you see," he stuttered. "It wasn't anything _bad,_ it's just that ... uh ... That we ... er ..." I waited patiently for him to finish his explanation, but he gave up. "I don't know what to say."

"I'd say nothing," Dica suggested. "Nothing's good." She glanced up at him. "Go with nothing."

Jack took the not so subtle hint and snapped his mouth shut. Sensing that my chance to pry some information out of him had passed, I turned my attention back to Olaf.

"So how have you been doing, Olaf?" I inquired. The snowman promptly began telling me about everything he had experienced while we were away. He described so many toys to me that there couldn't have possibly been one in the workshop that he didn't talk about.

The looks that Dica and Jack exchanged behind my back, however, did not fail to catch my eye. Jack made a sweeping motion across his forehead as if he was wiping off some sweat to which Dica only rolled her eyes and drank some eggnog from the glass in her hands. My curiosity over what they had been discussing before I walked through the door increased with their interaction.

But my attention was successfully diverted when Dica turned her body to face me.

"How have you been feeling, Elsa?" She asked. Her hazel eyes held nothing but concern as she looked at me.

"I've been feeling fine," I answered. "A bit more tired than usual, but much better than last night."

Dica nodded as if she had been expecting this reply. "Your body is still healing from all of the continuous stress it's been under. You should probably get some more rest tonight and tomorrow, but you should be feeling normal again by tomorrow night."

I nodded and smiled gratefully at the advice. "Thank you. Where's North at?"

"Oh, he's in his office. Apparently there have already been kids who need to be put on the Naughty list for Christmas this year. It's rally sad considering the years has barely begun. But at least it's one less toy for the yetis to worry about." She took another sip of eggnog. "Jack told me about Annalise, by the way - I'm sorry."

"There's nothing that can be done," I replied with a shrug. "She couldn't go on believing in a fictional character forever."

"Well, that's certainly true," she agreed. "I'm sorry about the Castle of Arendelle, too. I heard that he damage was too extensive for them to repair it, but they're talking about trying to rebuild it if that makes you feel any better."

Shrugging my shoulders, I shook my head. "I'm just glad that nobody got hurt. I didn't really have many happy memories there, anyways. Have you heard anything about Vengeance or Pitch Black?"

"Nope," she said, shaking her head and popping the p. "They're probably both stuck in their own little holes in the ground, waiting for the perfect moment to strike for revenge - as usual. You would think that they'd find something better to do with their time by now."

"Do you think Vengeance will start targeting the kids now?"

"Unlikely unless he gets bored again. It's the adults who kill each other and fight wars so it's the adults that he likes to go after. But you never know. He might just get back on his high horse and go after the kids again if he gets bored enough with the adults." She gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about them, Elsa. They won't be back for a while."

"Thanks, Dica," I said, returning the smile. A yawn forced its way past my lips, proving what Dica had said earlier about my body still healing and me needing more rest than usual. The fly over here had used a lot more energy than usual. Jack noticed me yawning and immediately came to his feet.

"We should get going," he said, picking me up before I could protest. "Are you coming with us, Olaf?"

"I'm coming!" He cred, running off to fetch a couple of snowglobes.

"Jack," I muttered. "Put me down. I can walk through a portal to the Ice Castle."

"But Dica said you need rest," he argued stubbornly, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. He just liked to annoy me.

"Yes, but that only means that I'm tired. Being tired is not the same as being disabled."

Our debate was cut short by Olaf returning with two snowglobes clutched in his stick hands. He threw one of them onto the ground and it shattered against the wooden floor.

"Let's go home," Jack whispered in my ear, walking through the portal wit Olaf following closely behind us and Dica waving her salutations to our retreating forms.

The moment we got home, Jack carried me to my bedroom and laid me down in the bed before shutting the door behind him as he left. I waited patiently before changing into my nightgown and releasing my hair from its braid. Yawning again, I returned to bed and fell asleep.

Sunlight filtered into my bedroom, rousing me from my sleep the following morning. I moved to stretch my muscles and realized that Jack wasn't laying next to me. The realization made me frown slightly as I really enjoyed waking up in his arms, but pushed the thought aside.

Jack continued to act strange throughout the rest of the day. I was working on the Annalise statue which had remained untouched for who knows how long and so did not bother to change out of my nightgown as using my powers drained me of my energy more frequently than usual and I had to return to sleep periodically. But the moment I was awake, I would see him sneaking off the balcony.

He would occasionally find me in my sculpture room and ask how I was feeling. When I told him that I was feeling fine, he would frown and ask if I was sure to which I would roll my eyes and confirm that I was positive that I was fine. If I asked where he had been going all day, he would stutter and get so nervous that I cold barely understand the words he was attempting to say. Eventually, he would basically say "nowhere" in one form or another and leave the room.

Frowning, I had even tried asking Olaf about his puzzling behavior since my talking snowman seemed to know more about the situation that I did. However, he offered me absolutely _no_ insight into Jack's mind and would simply start talking about summer. In time, I gave up on asking the snowman and continued alternating between working on my statue in my sculpture room and sleeping in my bedroom. I was able to stay awake longer after every time I slept.

As Dica had predicted, I was feeling one hundred percent better by nightfall. The statue of Annalise that I had been working on so diligently throughout the day was finally finished and I stood back to admire my work. I changed out of my nightgown and put my hair back into its braid. I had slept so much these past few days that I doubted I would have to desire for it anytime soon.

"That looks good," Jack said from the doorway, coming closer to me as I turned around to look at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Completely recovered," I replied.

He smiled, but it wasn't a carefree one that was typical for him. It was tense. "Good, because I have a surprise for you."

"Jack," I said, noticing that his hands were shaking a bit as he held mine. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he insisted, giving me another tense smile and dropping my hands. "Come on."

Still, I hesitated in that one spot, tilting my head to the side as I tried to understand his abnormal behavior. His smile faltered the slightest bit.

"Don't you trust me?" He said, holding his hand out to me and I placed my had in his because I did trust him with absolutely everything I have.

* * *

**You guys all know what's coming next! You've been waiting for this since chapter one and it's almost here! He's finally going to propose! Oh, I'm so excited.**

**Thanks for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows. If you have any questions, please ask!**

**Zerlinda**


	21. Chapter 21: Nerves (Jack's POV)

**Okay! First of all ... the Snow King has reached over 200 reviews! Yay!**

**Second of all, sorry for not uploading this weekend! I was super busy setting everything up for my uncle's surprise party Saturday (which lasted until one in the morning) and finishing his Jawa picture. If you want to see the picture I drew for him, you can see it (along with some other pieces of my artwork) on my DeviantArt profile. The link is in my bio on my profile.**

**Now, if you read any of this then I'm shocked because I know this is the one chapter you all have been waiting for since Chapter 1.**

**Enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 21: Nerves (Jack's POV)**

Dica and I watched with wide eyes as Elsa knelt down to Olaf's height to give him a hug. _Please_ tell me she didn't hear everything we just said. But she only laughed.

"Really?" Her eyes shot over to me. "What all were you saying about me?"

I felt my palms grow sweaty as anxiety started to kick in under her scrutinizing gaze. "Well, um, you see," _Come on, Jack, think of something!_ "It wasn't anything _bad,_ it's just that ... uh ... That we ... er ..." This was getting me nowhere. "I don't know what to say."

"I'd say nothing," Dica suggested from the other end of the couch. "Nothing's good." She gave me a pointed look. "Go with nothing."

Taking the hint, I closed my mouth and, thankfully, Elsa turned her attention back to Olaf. As the snowman began to describe practically everything in North's workshop, I looked over at Dica and wiped some nonexistent sweat from my brow. Her only response was to roll her eyes and take another sip from the glass of eggnog in her hands before turning to Elsa.

"How have you been feeling, Elsa?" She asked.

"I've been feeling fine," Elsa replied. "A bit more tired than usual, but much better than last night."

_I should hope so,_ I thought silently as Dica nodded her head. "Your body is still healing from all of the continuous stress it's been under. You should probably get some more rest tonight and tomorrow, but you should be feeling normal again by tomorrow night."

Elsa smiled and nodded in agreement. "Thank you. Where's North at?"

"Oh, he's in his office," Dica said. "Apparently there have already been kids who need to be put on the Naughty list for Christmas this year. It's really sad considering the year has barely begun. But at least it's one less toy for the yetis to worry about." She paused to drink some more eggnog. "Jack told me about Annalise, by the way - I'm sorry."

"There's nothing that can be done," Elsa replied shrugging. "She couldn't go on believing in a fictional character forever."

"Well, that's certainly true," Dica agreed. "I'm sorry about the Castle of Arendelle, too. I heard that he damage was too extensive for them to repair it, but they're talking about trying to rebuild it if that makes you feel any better."

I felt mildly surprised when Elsa shook her head in a negative response. "I'm just glad that nobody got hurt. I didn't really have many happy memories there, anyways. Have you heard anything about Vengeance or Pitch Black?"

"Nope," Dica replied. "They're probably both stuck in their own little holes in the ground, waiting for the perfect moment to strike for revenge - as usual. You would think that they'd find something better to do with their time by now."

"Do you think Vengeance will start targeting the kids now?"

"Unlikely unless he gets bored again. It's the adults who kill each other and fight wars so it's the adults that he likes to go after. But you never know. He might just get back on his high horse and go after the kids again if he gets bored enough with the adults." She gave Elsa a smile of reassurance. "Don't worry about them, Elsa. They won't be back for a while."

Sitting back, I watched the conversation between the two girls as Elsa thanked Dica. It was the most interaction that either of them had ever had with each other and them both seemed to be getting along very well. A yawn broke through Elsa's lips and I sat up immediately.

"We should get going," I said, lifting her into my arms before she could protest. "Are you coming with us, Olaf?"

The snowman ran off shouting, "I'm coming!" over his shoulder as he went to take some snowglobes. I could feel Elsa's eyes glaring holes into me.

"Jack," she muttered so low that only I could hear it. "Put me down. I can walk through a portal to the Ice Castle."

"But Dica said you need rest," I argued teasingly. A grin was trying to force its way onto my face. She looked a little cute when she was angry and I knew that she was only mildly annoyed with my actions - if she didn't want to be in my arms then she was perfectly capable of getting out of them by herself.

"Yes, but that only means that I'm tired. Being tired is not the same as being disabled."

Fortunately, Olaf returned at that moment, saving me from having to respond. He was carrying two snowglobes in his stick arms and threw one of them onto the hardwood floors.

"Let's go home," I suggested in a whisper, pressing my lips against Elsa's ear. Olaf followed closely behind us as Dica waved goodbye from the couch.

At the Ice Castle, I wasted no time getting Elsa put in bed. She seemed a little irritated at being treated similarly to a child, but I was just happy to have her awake and thawed. I walked out of her room, closing the door tightly behind me before she had the chance to resume our minor disagreement, I heard her move around in her room a little bit before finally settling back down into bed. Good, I didn't want her falling asleep during my proposal.

Throughout the night, I paced continuously. I paced in my room, under the chandelier, on the balcony, and even in Olaf's room a few times where the talking snow man listened somewhat attentively to my unintelligible nervous rants. When I wasn't talking to Olaf, I vented to myself or the Moon. My fingers constantly ran through and pulled at my hair. I was surprised that it hadn't started to come out yet.

My decision was final - I would propose to Elsa tomorrow night. She seems to have recovered from her grief about Annalise enough for a proposal to be appropriate, and I don't know how much longer I could take of the nerves eating away at me for every minute of every day. I had a plan - there was no reason to put it off any longer.

However, the thought of proposing to her in less than twenty four hours did nothing to calm the nerves that made my stomach twist and turn on itself. My hand when into the pocket of my hoodie and I started to fidget with the ring. Realizing what I was doing. I removed my hand from my pocket and it promptly flew back up to my hair.

Why was I so nervous? Dica was right - the chances of Elsa not agreeing to marry me were slim to none. She loves me; she's said so on numerous occasions. I was positive that she had no romantic view regarding North, Bunny or Sandy. The worst that she could do is say that she wanted to wait and I could do that, right? I mean, I waited for over four hundred years for her to even come into my life! I could wait a little bit longer for her to marry me.

But there was still that slim chance that she could say no for another reason. I wasn't exactly sure why it was there, but it was. Eating away at the feeling of calm that I was attempting to create like acid. My eyes drifted over to her bedroom door. There hadn't been any sound from it since least night, but she would soon be waking up with the rising sun.

I had to get out of here. Elsa couldn't see me like this. Turning around, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in one of the ice walls and cringed. No, she definitely couldn't see me like this. My eyes were wide with panic and my hair was messier than usual. She would know that something was up and get even more suspicious.

Quickly, I flew off the balcony as I heard movement in her room as she woke up from her sleep. I wasn't flying anywhere specific, just nowhere near the Ice Castle. After a while, I realized that I had only resumed my pacing in the air once the Ice Castle was out of sight.

The rest of the day continued in much of the same fashion for me. I would return to the Ice Castle to check on Elsa and make sure she was okay. Sometimes she would be sleeping and other times she would be working on her statue of Annalise. When she was awake, I would talk to her until she started to give the tell-tale signs of suspicion which were my cues to get out of there.

As I flew from the Ice Castle yet again, the sun had reached its peak in the sky. I was walking around the city park where we first met in failing attempts to clam my nerves. I couldn't talk to any of the Guardians - the wouldn't be able to help me any more than they already had and Dica would just slap me while telling me that I was being ridiculous and that I needed to snap out of it.

Suddenly, my feet stopped moving and I inhaled deeply. There was a sweet scent in the air. It was vaguely familiar and I breathed in again as I looked around for the source. My eyes landed on a small chocolate shop and I smiled while mentally smacking myself.

Chocolate! Elsa loves chocolate! Her love for it was actually more on the borderline of an obsession really, and I hurried across the street to the store. Inside, there must have been hundreds and hundreds of different types of the sweet candy. All in different colors, shaped, forms and decoratively designed packaging. I grabbed a fairly small box and walked back out, grinning.

Elsa might disagree with stealing, but the rules of the game changed whenever chocolate was involved.

Putting the box of chocolate in my pocket hoodie, I took off into the sky again and checked on Elsa. She was fast asleep in her bed, oblivious to my presence. Once I was positive that she was alright, I left again and landed on a particular hill that over looked a small town.

My feet resumed their pacing. Occasionally, I would kneel down on one knee and mumble a speech to myself before standing back up while shaking my head. The words coming out of my mouth weren't right. They sounded too forced.

You know the saying _Time flies by when you're having fun?_ Well, time also flies by when you're panicking over proposing to your girlfriend because the next time I looked up , the sun was starting to descend towards the horizon. My heart leapt to my throat and my stomach tied itself into knots and I returned to the Ice Castle where I found Elsa dressed in her normal outfit as she stood back to study her completed ice sculpture of Annalise.

"That looks good," I said, making her turn around as I walked closer to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Completely recovered."

I smiled at that. "Good, because I have a surprise for you." I took one of her hands and started to walk away, but she didn't move.

"Jack," she said, frowning as she looked up at me. "Are you okay?"

Noticing that my hands were shaking, I released my hold and wiped them on my hoodie. "I'm fine," I assured her, forcing another smile through the nerves. "Come on."

Still she didn't move. She only stood there, looking at me with apprehensive and confused ice blue eyes. Beautiful eyes. I swallowed around the lump in my throat and held out a hand to her.

"Don't you trust me?" I asked, feeling relieved when she didn't hesitate to take my hand in hers.

With my heart pounding a thousand times faster than usual in my chest, I flew her into the setting sun. She watched me the entire time we were flying which didn't do anything to ease my mind. I was hyperaware of ever little movement she made, from the slightest sigh of breath to a shift of the eye.

Eventually, we landed on the familiar hill and Elsa beamed at me, recognizing our location before turning back to the town as Sandy's dream sand began to swirl down in ribbons into the houses. I remained behind her, fidgeting awkwardly as I watched her reactions. She was smiling with her eyes full of wonder. Much like when I originally took her here to see dreams being made for the first time. She seemed pleased ...

My hands when into the pocket of my hoodie, bumping into the elegantly wrapped box of chocolate that had escaped my mind. I cleared my throat in the hopes of removing the lump in it and Elsa looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Uh ..." I started, pulling out the box and holding it out to her. "Here ... this is for you ..."

She took the box, watching me with curiosity written all over her face. "Jack..." she said slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah!" I assured her. "I'm fine, it's just..." I took a deep breath. "I think this is how it's done," I muttered, getting down on one knee as I took the ring that suddenly felt like it weighed kilograms from my pocked. "Elsa, I've been wanting to ask you this fro a while. ... You're the most beautiful thing that has ever existed to me and I would give up everything just to see you smile. I love you with everything I am, was, and ever will be and I was wondering if ... well ... if you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, would marry me?"

* * *

**So, just in case you didn't read the author's note at the beginning of this chapter because you were so excited for the proposal, I'll repeat what I said;**

**First of all ... the Snow King has reached over 200 reviews! Yay!**

**Second of all, sorry for not uploading this weekend! I was super busy setting everything up for my uncle's surprise party Saturday (which lasted until one in the morning) and finishing his Jawa picture. If you want to see the picture I drew for him, you can see it (along with some other pieces of my artwork) on my DeviantArt profile. The link is in my bio on my profile.**

**I sincerely hope that the proposal lived up to everyone's expectations.**

**Also, I WILL BE CLOSING THE POLL FOR THE WEDDING CAKE TOMORROW so please be sure to vote if you haven't already done so!**

**You all know the deal with asking questions. ;) Thanks for all of the amazing reviews, favorites, and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	22. Chapter 22: Reasons (Elsa's POV)

**Chapter 22: Reasons (Elsa's POV)**

The moment our hands made contact with each other, Jack took off, flying us into the sky. I kept my eyes on him the entire time he flew, hoping to get some hint as to why he was acting so strange lately, but his face revealed nothing. He didn't look at me. Instead, he kept his ice blue eyes staring forward.

His breathing was shallow and his gaze kept darting around as if he couldn't stay focused. After flying for a while, he landed and I looked around and took in my new surroundings. Only ... they weren't so new. They were quite familiar, actually, this tall hill that overlooked a little town as the last shining rays of the sun disappeared below the horizon. Dream sand trickled down from the dark sky into the houses of sleeping children.

Memories of Jack and I together ran through my mind, making me smile. He had wanted to make sure that I was going to start living and leaving my Ice Castle. He had brought me here to see Sandy making dreams. He had said it would only be just for the night, but I decided that I no longer wanted to be alone and that one night turned into five happy years.

Jack cleared his throat behind me and I turned to look at him. The anxious expression on his face was back.

"Uh ..." he said, fidgeting awkwardly before holding something out to me. "Here ... this is for you."

I took the object without looking at it. I was more concerned with Jack at the moment - he looked as if he was going to have a panic attack any minute. His eyes were wide, his breaths were quick and shallow, and his hands were visibly shaking. "Jack ..." I said slowly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah!" He said, sounding breathless, like he had just finished running a mile. "I'm fine, it's just ..." I felt my heart skip a beat as he got down on one knee, muttering something under his breath. He reached into his pocket and held up something to me, but I didn't look at it. I was too busy looking into his eyes in a state of shock to notice anything else. "Elsa," he said, taking a deep breath. It shook. "I've been wanting to ask you this for a while. ... You're the most beautiful thing that has ever existed to me and I would give up everything just to see you smile. I love you with everything that I am, was, and ever will be and I was wondering if ... well ... if you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, would marry me?"

By the time he was done with his speech, tears had filled my eyes. One of my hands came up to cover my lips as I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding and a couple of drops of salt water ran down my face. I don't know how long I was silent for, but it must have been a while because whatever he was holding started to vibrate as his hands shook.

Coming out of my state of shock, I knelt in front of him, the box falling from my grasp as my hands cupped his in both of mine. He followed my movements with wide eyes and his hand was shaking so badly that mine started to shake with it. "Jack ..." I breathed, a small smile breaking out over my face. "Is this why you have been acting so nervous around me lately?" I let out a short breath of laughter. "Because you wanted to ask me to marry you?"

He didn't say or do anything. He didn't move, didn't nod, not even a blink. The only thing he did was continue to stare at me with those wide icy blue eyes that I love so much. But he didn't need to say anything. I knew. I understood. My hands moved to hold his face between them.

"Yes, Jack Frost. I will marry you," I said tearfully, allowing the smile to break loose over my face. This time, it appeared to be Jack who was in shock as he remained still as a statue for several long moments.

Eventually he blinked. "Yes?" He repeated in disbelief, looking like he was seeing me for the first time. I nodded with tears still streaming down my cheeks. _"Yes?"_ He said again with unrestrained happiness and joy in his voice. His eyes shined with so much hope that I couldn't help but laugh.

_"Yes!"_ I confirmed again.

This time, Jack laughed and picked me up by my waist as he came to his feet to spin me around in circles. I joined in with his laughter, supporting myself with my hands against his shoulders and vaguely aware of golden dream sand swirling around us in various shapes of animals and objects.

Setting me back down on my feet, Jack pressed a hand against the back of my neck to bring my lips to his. My arms wrapped around his neck as his fingers buried themselves in my hair while the other one wound around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I felt my hair blow as the dreams sand started to swirl faster around us.

We broke the kiss, smiling at each other, and I felt him slip something onto my left ring finger. The ring. I reached up to brush a few locks of white hair out of his face ad the shining glint of my new piece of jewelry caught my eye. I directed my attention to it. It was beautiful, shaped like a snowflake, but it wasn't the beauty of it that made my breath hitch.

"Did you make this, Jack?" I asked, inspecting the ice around my finger closely. I felt Jack's arms become tense around me.

"Err. ... Yeah," he admitted, sounding a little embarrassed. "Do you like it?"

Oh, the absurdity of this man. "I love it," I corrected him. "Is this why you asked me how to make ice sculptures?"

"Well ... I knew you'd bite my head off if I stole your ring so there weren't many other options."

"You were right," I said. "I love you so much, Jack. But you do know that Arendelle doesn't exist anymore, right? I'm not a Queen."

A grin broke out over his face. "Of course you are," he insisted. "You're the Snow Queen."

His grin was contagious and I returned the expression as I ran my fingers through his soft, tangled hair. "Then I guess that makes you the Snow King."

"I like the sound of that," he replied, tightening his embrace around my waist to pull me even closer to him. His gaze flicked up from mine and he laughed.

Curious, I turned around to see what was so amusing and saw that Sandy had come down to ground level to celebrate with us. He was dancing and clapping and cheering silently all at once. I laughed at the short, round, golden man and he stopped to look at me with a smile that stretched from ear to ear and two thumbs up. His form of approval.

"Thanks, Sandy," I said and a figure of a ring made out of gold sand formed above his head in response. I removed my left arm from around Jack's neck so that he could see the ring.

After a short inspection of my engagement ring, he looked up at Jack and nodded his approval of the ring. Jack chuckled and bumped fists with the Guardian. "Thanks, Sandy. ... You should probably go, though. We wouldn't want to be the cause of kids not having any dreams tonight."

Sandy nodded in agreement and gave one more cheer of congratulations for us before returning into the sky. Moments later, the dreams sand resumed falling from the stars. Jack and I sat down on the snow-covered ground with my head on his shoulder and his cheek resting on my hair, much like that first night we spent together. It was perfect.

Reaching in front of me, I picked up the golden wrapped package that he had given me and opened it. I smiled when I saw the variety assortment of chocolates inside, promptly popping one into my mouth. I picked another one and lifted it up to Jack's lips. He opened his mouth and enclosed his lips around the tip of my finger as I pushed the chocolate in.

"Is this were you were all day?" I asked. "Getting me chocolate?"

"No, not really," he admitted slowly. "I was trying to work off some of the nerves and just happened to come across a chocolate shop. I thought of you and decided to get some."

"Why were you so nervous?" I wondered incredulously. He hesitated, refusing to make eye contact with me and I felt my jaw drop. "You didn't think that I would say no, did you?"

"It was a possibility," I heard him mutter.

For a moment, I just sat there, starting at him in complete and utter disbelief. No wonder why we was freaking out so badly! Suddenly, laughter burst through my lips and it was his turn to look at me in disbelief. Shaking my head, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

"You ridiculous man," I said through a few giggles. He smiled at me as I stared into his eyes. "I love you Jack."

His smile grew and he kissed the tip of my nose. "I love you too, Elsa." He paused, brushing the back of his knuckles against my cheek softly. "When do you want to tell everyone?"

The reflection of light in his eyes distracted me, making me look away from his blue irises and towards the sky. The rivers of dream sand had disappeared as the first rays of the morning sun started to peak above the horizon. It was sunrise. I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder and popping another chocolate truffle into my mouth.

"Oh, I doubt we'll have to tell them," I said. "I'm pretty sure that Sandy's already take care of that for us."

Jack hummed, pulling me closer into his side. "Well, if that's the case then North has most likely already set up a celebrations and has everyone waiting for us at the Pole."

"Most likely," I agreed. "But I don't really want to go just yet."

I felt him smile. "Neither do I, however, Bunny might cause some serious damage to us if we keep him waiting; it's getting awfully close to Easter."

Letting out a reluctant sigh, I agreed. "And I suppose that the sooner we get here and show up then the sooner we could leave."

"Come on," he said, standing up and holding out a hand which I took and he pulled me to my feet.

Making a snowflake that was big enough for the both of us, I guided it towards the North Pole. During the entire flight, we never completely broke out physical contact with each other. We always remained touching in some for m or another. Even walking into the workshop, we were holding hands.

As we had predicted, cheer and music shot up to full volume the moment we entered the building. North was going crazy, waving his hands around wildly. Sandy raised his glass of eggnog in our direction, Dica was clapping rapidly with excitement. Even Bunny nodded and smiled his congratulations. Tooth immediately flew up close to me and pulled my left hand from Jack's grasp.

"Let me see, let me see!" She cried and I laughed and held out my hand to display my new engagement ring. It sparkled in the bright lights of the workshop as everyone gathered around to see it except Sandy. "Oh!" Tooth gasped. "It's beautiful! You did a really good job, Jack."

Jack smiled and nodded as North clapped a large hand onto his shoulder. "Well done, Jack. I knew you had it in you."

"I must say," Dica commented, grinning up at us. "It looks _way_ better on your finger than it did in Jack's hand as he worked himself into hysterics over proposing. Congratulations."

"Thank you," I replied while Jack mumbled something about exaggerations.

"Nicely done, mate," Bunny said simply, giving Jack a slap on the back.

The rest of the morning was spent sitting in the living area, chatting about various things while sipping on eggnog. Most of our comments pertained to the wedding and everyone describing the nervous break downs they had to talk Jack through while he was still only thinking about proposing to me.

With time, the girls' conversations and guys' conversations drifted apart in relevance. Dica, Tooth and I tossed ideas back and forth between us about he wedding. Details that would have to be planned. Meanwhile, North, Jack, and Bunny discussed mostly their Guardian duties. Sandy would add the occasional remark of his own into their conversations, but otherwise remained his silent self.

By the time Jack and I decided that it was time for us to return to the Ice Castle, it was the middle of the afternoon. _Wow,_ we honestly hadn't meant to stay that long, but we had been enjoying ourselves too much. However, as much as we liked celebrating with the other Guardians and Dica, both of us were ready to return to just enjoying the latest development of out relationship in peace and quiet.

We left the workshop with promises to keep everyone updated on the wedding planning. Using a snowglobe to transport us back to he Ice Castle, I walked back home through the portal, hand in hand with my fiancé.

* * *

**So, I'm glad that the proposal seemed to live up to everyone's expectations. :) I hope that Elsa's reaction did the same ...**

**But, serious guys? There was a tie for the wedding cake as well? Lol, don't worry. I'll be the tie breaker like I was for the wedding dress and post it to my profile.**

**I actually wasn't going to upload this today. You see, the keyboard at home lags terribly so I type these chapters up during my Web Page Design class and ... well ... I need to catch up on some work before report cards go out next week. But I always stay after school on Thursdays due to Art Club, so I can work on it then (the work doesn't take that long to finish). So if I don't update this Thursday, that's why.**

**Everyone knows about asking questions. Thanks for the AMAZING reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	23. Chapter 23: Celebrations (Jack's POV)

**Chapter 23: Celebrations (Jack's POV)**

_She wasn't saying_ anything. Her eyes had filled with tears as she just continued looking at me. Is that a good sign? I had seen women cry when their boyfriend proposes, but usually they were nodding or saying yes or giving some sort of answer. Elsa wasn't. She was just standing there, staring down at me with wide tear filled eyes. This did nothing to reassure me.

My hand started to shake with my nerves as she knelt down in front of me. Her hands covered mine without even a glance at the ring. My heart pounded harshly in my chest. _What was she doing? This wasn't how she was suppose to act ... was it?_

"Jack," she said softly and I couldn't breathe. "Is this why you've been acting so strange around me lately?" A slight laugh broke out from her with a small smile. "Because you wanted to ask me to marry you?"

_That wasn't an answer,_ was the only thought going through my head, repeating itself like a broken record. My throat was too tight for me to make any sounds. I could only stare at her with wide eyes as I anxiously waited for a definite yes or no answer. With every passing moment of silence from her, the more fearful of that answer I became. _She's going to say no, she's going to say no-_

"Yes, Jack Frost. I will marry you," she finally said, smiling widely through a few tears as he cupped my face between her hands. I couldn't say or do anything for the longest time. I was in a state of shock. Did I mishear her? Were my ears playing tricks on me? _Did she really just say-?_

Blinking, I looked at her smiling face. "Yes?" I said in a small voice, watching her carefully. More tears trailed down her pale cheeks as she nodded. _"Yes?"_ I reiterated, hope coursing through me in tidal waves.

Laughing, she nodded again. _"Yes!"_ She said.

In that moment, everything crashed into me. She was saying yes! She wanted to marry me! She wanted to spend the rest of her life with me! I laughed joyously, grabbing her by the waist as I stood up and spun her around in circles. Her hands pressed into my shoulders to support herself as she laughed with me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noted the objects and animals of gold dream sand swirling around us.

Crashing my lips to hers, I set her back on the ground. My fingers tangled themselves into the platinum blonde strands of her hair while my other arm wrapped around her waist to bring her closer to me. Her own arms made their way around my neck as he reciprocated the kiss with equal passion. The dream sand surround us swirled faster, creating a wind that ruffled our hair and clothes.

A few locks of my hair fell into my eyes and Elsa pushed them away with soft fingertips when our lips parted from the other's. Her eyes flashed to the ring that I had slipped onto her finger during our kiss. She gasped when she saw it and nervousness struck me again in full force.

"Did you make this, Jack?" She asked, turning her hand this way and that to study the ice from every angle.

"Err. ... Yeah." _What if she didn't like it?_ "Do you like it?"

"I love it," she insisted and relief flooded through my body. "Is this why you asked me how to make ice sculptures?"

"Well ... I knew you'd bite my head off if I stole one so there weren't many other options."

"You were right." She smiled up at me. "I love you so much, Jack, but you do know that Arendelle doesn't exist anymore, right? I'm not a Queen."

Grinning, I leaned my forehead against hers. "Of course you are," I said. "You're the Snow Queen."

"Then I guess that makes you the Snow King," she said, her grin widening.

My arms tightened around her waist. "I like the sound of that." A flash of gold movement I my peripheral vision caught my eyes, making me look up. I laughed when I saw Sandy dancing and cheering in ecstasy. Elsa turned around in my embrace and also laughed at his antics. After a while, Sandy stopped to beam at us with two thumbs up, showing his approval.

"Thanks, Sandy," Elsa said with a laugh. A ring made out of gold sand appeared above his head and she removed one of her arms from around my neck to show him the ring.

Sandy nodded at me and I chuckled. "Thanks, Sandy," I said, repeating Elsa's earlier sentiment. "You should go, thought. We wouldn't want to be the cause of kids not having any dreams tonight." While what I said was certainly true, I was really trying to spend some more time with just me and Elsa.

Nodding his head, Sanyd took the hint and bumped my fist with his own. He gave one more silent cheer before flying back up into the moonlit sky and a minute or so later, dream sand started to fall down into the bedrooms of sleeping children. Elsa moved to sit on the snow covered ground below us and I sat down next to her. She rested her head on my shoulder and I leaned my cheek on her hair. Exactly like when we first came here and the memories made me smile.

Originally, when I had brought her here, I wasn't sure what it was that I was feeling for her. At the time, I had been more concerned with getting her out of that Ice Castle. It was suppose to have been just for the night, but it turned into five years. Now, I had absolutely no doubt about my feelings for Elsa and those five years were going to turn into the rest of eternity. Above us, the moon was shining brightly. As if the Man in the Moon was nodding in approval.

Elsa reached in front of her and opened the box of chocolates that had fallen from her hands when I proposed. She smiled and popped one of the truffles into her mouth before holding up another one to my lips. I opened my mouth and closed my lips around the tip of her finger as I tasted the sweet treat on my tongue.

"Is this where you were all day?" She inquired. "Getting me chocolate?"

_Um_ ... "No, not really, " I admitted. "I was trying to work of some of the nerves and just happened to come across a chocolate shop. I thought of you and decided to get some."

"Why were you so nervous?" She asked in an incredulous tone. I hesitated, slightly embarrassed and was careful not to meet her eyes. "You didn't think I would say no, did you?"

_Well ... _"It was a possibility," I mumbled.

There was a brief moment of silence before she burst out laughing. Full blown laughter. I looked at her, slightly confused as to what was so amusing and she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "You ridiculous man," she said, continuing to giggle. The sound made me smile at her. "I love you, Jack."

My smile stretched even further across my face and I lightly kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you too, Elsa." I softly ran the back of my knuckles over her cheek. "When do you want to tell everyone?"

Looking away from my eyes, she returned her head to its previous position on my shoulder and ate another chocolate. "Oh, I doubt we'll have to tell them," she said, watching the sunrise. "I'm pretty sure that Sandy's already taken care of that for us."

Humming my agreement, I shifted her closer to my side. "Well, if that's the case then North has most likely already set up a celebration and has everyone waiting for us at the Pole."

"Most likely," Elsa consented. "But I don't really want to go just yet."

I smiled at that, sharing her feelings. "Neither do I, however, Bunny might cause some serious damage to us if we keep him waiting; it's getting awfully close to Easter." _He always became much grumpier around Easter._

Elsa agreed reluctantly, letting out a deep sigh. "And I suppose that the sooner we get there and show up then the sooner we could leave."

"Come on," I said, climbing to my feet and holding a hand out to help her. She took it and I pulled her up. _Let's get this over with._

She made her usual giant snowflake big enough for me to stand on it with her and flew us to the North Pole. We landed on the snowy landscape just outside the workshop and walked inside hand in hand. The moment we stepped over the threshold, the predicted cheers and music exploded. We didn't even hear the door close behind us.

North waved his hands above his head wildly as he shouted happily for us. Dica stood next to him, keeping some distance between her and the Russian to prevent any injuries. She clapped her hands rapidly and Sandy, who was standing by her side, raised his glass of eggnog in our honor. Bunny simply smiled and nodded his congratulations. Tooth, on the other hand, immediately flew up to us and pulled Elsa's hand from mine.

"Let me see, let me see!" She demanded excitedly. I placed an arm around Elsa's waist as he fiancée laughed and stretched her hand out to display the engagement ring on her finger. _My fiancée,_ I thought to myself in a daze of joy. "Oh! It's beautiful!" Tooth gasped. "You did a really good job, Jack."

A large hand landed harshly on my shoulder and I looked up at North. "Well done, Jack," he said approvingly. "I knew you had it in you."

Dica looked up from the ring and smiled at me. There was a hint of an _I told you so_ glint in her eyes. "I must say," she said. "It looks _way_ better on your finger than it did in Jack's hand as he worked himself into hysterics over proposing. Congratulations."

My cheeks heated in a blush. "That's a bit of an exaggeration," I muttered under my breath but I don't think anyone heard me.

"Thank you," Elsa replied with a genuine smile.

"Nicely done, mate," Bunny praised me, giving me a slap on the back.

We spent the rest of the morning gathered in the sitting area close to the fireplace. Our discussions mostly revolved around wedding plans that Elsa and I hadn't even had the chance to think about. Luckily, the girls were more than willing to suggest ideas and the conversation split as North, Bunny, and I began talking about our various Guardian duties. Sandy would occasionally add to our conversation, but was mostly content to just sit back and observe.

Eventually, it became late afternoon and Elsa and I decided that it was time to go. Promising everyone to keep them updated with plans and details of the wedding, we used a snowglobe to return to the Ice Castle hand in hand. The portal closed behind us and Elsa let out a deep sigh, leaning against my chest as her eyes closed. I smiled down at her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.

"Home, sweet home," I murmured in her ear. She smiled and moved her face to nuzzle my neck with her nose.

"It's nice to be home," she replied softly.

Smiling into her platinum blonde hair, I hummed in agreement. "So ... when do you want to get married?"

"I don't know," she said. "I never really thought about it."

"You never thought about your own wedding?" I asked curiously. "I thought girls started planning their wedding when they're five?"

Elsa laughed. "No, that would have been Anna. She was always the most romantic of the two of us." There was a pause as she looked down and I sensed her change in mood. "She would have loved this. Me being engaged, a wedding ... she would have been head over heels." She sighed. "I wish she was here."

"I know," I said softly. Despite having been isolated from her younger sister for basically her entire life, it was obvious that her love for Anna had not diminished with the passing centuries. "I'm sorry."

But she shook her head. "It's not your fault," she said, then smiled up at me again. "She would have loved you, you know."

"You think so?" I asked in a teasing manner, grinning at her.

"Oh, I know so," she replied as she brought my lips down to hers for a quick kiss.

"Good to know," I muttered against her lips absent mindedly.

"When do you want to get married?" She asked, turning around in my embrace so that she was facing me.

My head tilted to the side a bit as I studied her. "Sometime during the winter ..." I hesitated. "If ... that's what you want, of course."

Her eyes sparkled up at me. "I wouldn't have it any other way. It can be the first day of winter."

"This year?"

She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "I don't see why not. There's only going to be North, Tooth, Sandy, Dica, and Bunny - it's not like we can invite hundreds of people. I can make my own wedding dress and, since it's so small, we can forego the grooms men and the brides maids. We can have it at the Pole and North can officiate the marriage if he's okay with it, of course."

Chuckling, I shook my head. "Well ... that was easy. Sounds like everything is already planned." It sounded like the perfect wedding to me.

"Not so fast," she said, grabbing me by the collar of my hoodie. "We've still got to figure out what you're wearing."

I gulped. "What do you mean?"

She smiled sweetly at me. "Sorry, but you're not going to wear that outfit when you're getting married - no matter how small the wedding is. I can make you some clothes."

"Uh ..." I hesitated again. "There's no need for that. I'll just ... um ... _find_ some other clothes.

"Come on, don't be ridiculous!" She brushed her lips against mine, just enough so that I cold barely feel their softness, barely taste her breath. She was attempting to persuade me and it was working. "Don't you trust me?" Her breath washed over my face, muddling my thoughts as it always did. It did not slip past my notice that she had mimicked the words that I always said when I wanted her to do something. They had never failed me before and now I knew why the question worked so well.

"No shoes," I told her firmly. If she wanted me to wear a suit for the wedding - fine. I could wear a suit for one day. But shoes were out of the question. It wouldn't be right for me to wear shoes as I couldn't remember ever wearing them in my life.

Elsa leaved in and kissed me on the lips. "No shoes," she agreed before connecting our lips again.

* * *

**Aw! They are so cute! The wedding will not be in the next chapter, just to let you know. But it's coming up soon!**

**The same as always with asking questions.**

**Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	24. Chapter 24: Designs (Elsa's POV)

**I know, I know, I said that I probably was not going to update today. But, apparently, I have zero self control and simply couldn't resist so ...**

**Enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 24: Designs (Elsa's POV)**

As the portal closed behind us I let out a deep sigh and leaned back against Jack's body, closing my eyes. The silence was a welcome for my me after the celebration. Not that I didn't enjoy the party, but I would have liked for the private moment between me and Jack to have lasted just a little bit longer. Jacks' arms came up around my waist and I truly felt at home.

"Home, sweet home," he said quietly into my ear, his warm breath caressing the skin on my exposed neck.

"It's nice to be home," I replied in the same quiet tone, as if speaking to loudly would ruin the moment. I felt him press his face into my braided hair as he smiled.

"So ... when do you want to get married?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I never really thought about it." Before Jack came into my life, there had never been a reason for me to think about it. As a human, I had been more concerned with controlling my powers. Then I died and became a spirit and I was still worried about hurting others, but had the added issue of not being seen by anyone. It made things slightly more difficult to consider a romantic relationship, much less fantasize about a wedding.

"You never thought about your own wedding?" Jack asked in disbelief. "I thought girls started planning their weddings when they're five?"

Laughing, I shook my head. "No, that would have been Anna. She was always the most romantic of the two of us." I looked down as memories of my beloved sister flowed through my mind. "She would have loved this. Me being engaged, a wedding ... she would have been head over heels." Actually, she would be planning every little detail at this very moment. I sighed. "I wish she was here."

And I truly did. I wanted my younger sister to be standing next to me at the altar as my maid of honor on the day Jack and I got married. To talk and discuss wedding details with her as we giggled over fond memories. There was so much that I wanted to include her in on, but would never get the chance to. It was the bitter price of immortality.

"I know," Jack said softly in his attempt to comfort me. "I'm sorry."

Shaking my head, I denied his apology. "It's not your fault," I said and smiled up at him as I thought about what Anna's reaction would have been if she had met Jack. "She would have loved you, you know."

"You think so?" He teased with a grin, giving me a light push.

"Oh, I know so," I replied as I brought our lips together.

"Good to know," Jack muttered, his lips brushing against mine in the process.

"When do you want to get married?" I asked. It was his wedding too, so he should have a say in it ...

He pulled back, looking at me with his head slightly tilted to one side. "Some time during the winter. ... If that's what you want, of course."

Normally, everything about the wedding was focused around whatever the bride wanted. Personally, I never understood it. Maybe it was because it was typically the women who planned such events but, the way I see it, it takes two to get married. If the groom wants a say in the wedding then he should get one.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," I told him truthfully because, really, why would two people with snow and ice powers get married during any other season? "It can be the first day of winter."

"This year?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I explained, "I don't see why not. There's only going to be North, Tooth, Sandy, Dica and Bunny - it's not like we can invite hundreds of people. I can make my own wedding dress and, since its so small, we can forego the grooms men and brides maids. We can have it at he Pole and North can officiate the marriage if he's okay with it, of course." Truth be told, I didn't like the idea of a big wedding even if we _could_ have one. I wasn't a huge fan of crowds.

Jack chuckled, shaking his head a little. "Well ... that was easy. Sounds like everything is already planned."

I gripped the collar of is hoodie in my fist. "Not so fast." There was still one more thing ... "We've still got of figure out what you're wearing."

He suddenly looked nervous, but tried to play it off. "What od you mean?"

"Sorry, but you're not going to wear that outfit when you're getting married - no matter how small the wedding is. I can make you some clothes."

"Uh ..." he hesitated. "There's no need for that. I'll just ... um ... _find_ some other clothes."

"Come on, don't be ridiculous!" I insisted, brushing my lips against his so that they barely touched in an attempted to persuade him. "Don't you trust me?"

After a couple of moments he sighed and I knew that I had won. "No shoes." The firmness in his tone told me that _that_ particular detail was not up for debate, but I didn't care and kissed him fully on the lips.

"No shoes," I agreed and reconnected our lips.

***Ten Months Later***

"Knock, knock!" Dica's voice echoed through the walls of the Ice Castle from the sculpture room, making me and Jack look away from each other. We had just been ... _discussing_ his attire of the wedding since I had not even given him a single hint regarding what the clothing was. Mostly because I had yet to make it. "Alright, Jack, get a move on to the Pole. Pronto!"

We looked out a nearby window to see the aurora borealis shining with the setting sun. Jack frowned. "But ... North's calling us," he protested. "Shouldn't all of us be going?"

Dica rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her hip to the side. "Yeah, he's only calling _you_," she said, a little miffed with his obliviousness.

Poor Jack only seemed more confused. "Why?"

"Your bachelor party?" She suggested sarcastically. "It's the night before the wedding! Of course, you're probably going to end up helping him make Christmas toys. For future references; let's not plan any more weddings or other major events within a week of Christmas and Easter, okay? North's happy for you two and he doesn't have a problem with officiating the marriage or having the wedding at the Pole, but he is _not_ happy about missing a day's worth of production so close to Christmas."

"Bachelor party?" Jack repeated. Dica rolled her eyes again.

"Yes! Now kiss your fiancée goodbye because the next time you'll see her will be when she's walking down the aisle."

"What?"

"It's tradition, Jack," Tooth explained. "The groom isn't suppose to see the bride before the wedding. It's bad luck."

"How so?"

"It goes back to when arranged marriages were more common," I said. "There were some cases where the groom saw his bride-to-be for the first time just before the wedding ceremony and ran away, so it became bad luck."

"But I've already seen you," Jack argued, still confused. "I'm not going to run away."

"Just. _Go,"_ Dica said, pushing him out onto the balcony. He turned around to give me a puzzle look but I only smiled and waved my had as he flew off into the sky. "Finally!" Dica exclaimed, flopping into an armchair. "No offense, Elsa, but your fiancé can be really dense."

I laughed. "Did you do what I asked?"

"Of course!" She pulled out a black sketch book from her leather messenger bag which was filled with art supplies.

About five months after Jack's proposal, we had all gathered together at the Ice Castle for my birthday. It wasn't anything huge; just a small get together with friends. Since I was having trouble thinking of what to make Jack for the wedding, I had decided to enlist Dica's help and she had readily agreed.

"So, you were right about not being able to picture him in a suit," Dica said, sitting next to me on the couch as she flipped through the pages of the sketch book. "That's what I was considering at first, but I couldn't make it work. So, I thought that maybe something a little more casual and started looking at just a button down shirt with slacks." As she spoke, she continued turning the pages. I saw multiple sketches of Jack in different types of suits and button down shirts. None of them looked quite right and she continued speaking, "and that seemed a little _too_ casual ..."

"But you figured it out ..." I prompted and she grinned at me.

"I started thinking that maybe ... _this_ was perfect." she turned one more page and held it up to show me a drawing of Jack. He was wearing a dark blue waistcoat with a matching tie, a light blue button down shirt and black dress pants. The shoulders of the waistcoat and tie were decorated with frost. I took the sketchbook from her and studied the picture, running my fingers over the lines softly and felt he lead of the pencil marks. Dica was smiling at me, watching my reaction as she propped her head up with one hand.

"This _is_ perfect," I finally grinned. "He's going to love it!" I thought better of that statement and amended it. "Well ... maybe not _love_ it, but he'll be impressed. I love the frost you added at the shoulders and tie."

"Oh, well, the frost was Tooth's idea," Dica admitted. "She thought it would add a special touch."

"It certainly does," I said.

"Well then, lets get this show on the road!" Dica proclaimed, clapping her hands and standing up. "Come on, ladies - we have work to do."

"I brought the eggnog!" Tooth said, holing up a jug of the sweet drink. I waved my hand and formed three ice glasses which were then filled with eggnog. After taking a sip, I began to create a minimalist life-size statue of Jack. It was an hour later before we got his outfit just right and I melted the sculpture, leaving the clothes to pile on the floor. We made quick work of folding the clothes neatly and stacked them on a table.

"Now for your wedding dress." I looked at Dica. "Come on! You know we _have_ to see it!"

"Okay," I relented and used my powers to make my wedding dress. It hadn't taken me long to design it, but this was the first time I was putting it on since Jack could be _very_ sneaky when he wanted something and I wasn't taking any chances of him seeing the dress before the wedding.

The dress was similar to my _Snow Queen Dress_ as everyone calls it, only it was strapless, sleeveless and didn't have the slit up my right leg. It was an empire waist with a sweetheart neckline and beaded bust. The corset back formed the light material of the dress to my body while still allowing it to fall softly to the floor. There was bit of a train that dragged along the floor. The beading at the bust was made of ice and the dress was actually a color of blue that was so light it looked almost white.

Dica smiled and nodded approvingly as Tooth clapped and jumped up and down. "What about the veil?" Tooth asked.

Waving my hands again, I created the veil which was basically designed like the cape from my Snow Queen Dress with snowflakes patterned onto the transparent fabric. It was longer than my dress, dragging along the floor behind the train. Tooth got even more excited while Dica just stood beside her, continuing to nod approvingly.

"Very nice," she said. "Do you want to take my job?" We laughed at the thought and they both began to circle me, inspecting my outfit from all angles. "What do you want to do with your hair?"

"Leave it down," I answered, remembering Jack's comment about liking my hair down.

"Hmmm," Dica hummed, removing my veil. I kept my eyes forward as she pulled the locks of hair closest to my face to the back of my head and started to style it. "There," she said after a while. "What do you think?"

Using my powers, I made a mirror which Dica held up so that I could view her work through the reflection of the mirror that was reflected on the ice wall in front of me. She had pinned the locks of hair into a sort of miniature bun at he back of my head while allowing the rest of my hair to flow freely down my back. I squinted my eyes a bit and flicked my fingers to add a few snowflakes to it before smiling.

"I like it."

"Great!" She said. "Now let's get you out of that dress and have some fun." Tooth and I eager agreed and they loosened the ties of the corset, helping me carefully remove my wedding dress and into some more comfortable clothes.

* * *

**The next chapter will be Jack's bachelor "party." I find it kind of funny and I hope you do too. After that, it will be the wedding! Are you excited? I know I am! I hope it lives up to everyone's expectations ...**

**Just a little fun fact: the whole "knock, knock," that dica does when she shows up at the Ice Castle? I actually do that whenever I walk into my house whether anyone's there or not ...**

**The links for dress, inspiration for Elsa's hair, and inspiration for Jack's outfit are all posted on my profile if you would like to get a better idea of what it looks like!**

**Please don't hesitate to review! Reviews are the highlight of my day and really encourage me to keep going. :)**

**Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews, favorites, and follows! If you have a questions, please ask it.**


	25. Chapter 25: Bachelor (Jack's POV)

**Over 100 favorites on TSK! Yay! Sorry, had to let that out. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 25: Bachelor (Jack's POV)**

I was staring into Elsa's eyes stubbornly. Okay, _she_ was staring into _my_ eyes stubbornly while I was staring into hers beseechingly. It had been ten months. _Ten months_ since I asked her to marry me. Ten months since she had said yes. Ten months since I agreed to let her make my clothes for the wedding. Now, the wedding was tomorrow and I had absolutely _no idea_ what I was wearing and Elsa _refused_ to even give me a hint!

"Knock, knock!" We looked away from our staring contest at the sound of Dica's voice ringing through the castle as she walked out of the sculpture room with tooth following closely behind her. "Alright, Jack, get a move on to the Pole. Pronto!"

A look out of the balcony alerted me to the extra colorful lights shining in the sky as the sun sank below the mountain tops. I frowned in confusion. "But, North's calling us," I said. "Shouldn't all of us be going?"

Dica rolled her eyes in an exasperated manner, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking one hip out to the side. "Yeah, he's only calling _you."_

My brow furrowed as my confusion deepened. What did I do now? "Why?"

"Your bachelor party?" She said as if such a thing should have been obvious. "It's the night before the wedding! Of course, you're probably going to end up helping him make Christmas toys. For future references; let's not plan any more weddings or other major events within a week of Christmas and Easter, okay? North's happy for you two and he doesn't have a problem with officiating the marriage or having the wedding at the Pole, but he is _not_ happy about missing a day's worth of production so close to Christmas."

"Bachelor party?" I reiterated causing Dica to roll her eyes again.

"Yes! Now kiss your fiancée goodbye because the next time you will see her will be when she's walking down the aisle."

_Wait, what?_ "What?"

"It's tradition, Jack," Tooth said before Dica could continue. "The groom isn't suppose to see the bride before the wedding. It's bad luck."

"How so?"

"It goes back to when arranged marriages were more common," Elsa explained. "There were some cases where the groom saw his bride-to-be for the first time just before the wedding ceremony and ran away, so it became bad luck."

"But I've already seen you," I argued, still confused. "I'm not going to run away."

"Just. _Go,"_ Dica sighed, pushing me out onto the balcony. I shot Elsa questioning look, but she only smiled and waved her hand so I flew off towards the North Pole. Arriving at the workshop, I walked straight in without knocking only to have to take a step back out again to narrowly avoid being run over by a herd of yetis bustling past me with their arms full of decoratively wrapped presents.

"Hey, North!" I shouted over the noise. "I'm here!"

"It's about bloody time, mate," an Australian accented voice grumbled. "Get over here and start working."

"Over where?" I muttered trying to find the two Guardians through the maze of yetis, elves, toys, and colorful wrapping paper. Trying to stop the yetis to ask which way to go proved to be useless as they would just ignore me and continue working. For a while, I fumbled around until I finally caught sight of Bunn and North. The Russian was shouting orders, his voice miraculously carrying from one end of the workshop to the other while Bunny was hard at work painting toys next to a huge yeti.

North spotted me in the midst of the crowd and ushered me closer to them. "Jack!" He yelled "Finally, you're here!"

Suddenly, a train cart, paintbrush, and paint was being shoved into my hands and I was being forced into a stool next to Bunny at a workbench. "I just found out about this!" I said, dipping the end of the brush into the bright read pool of paint at the bottom of the bowl.

"What do you mean you just found out about it?" North said incredulously. "You knew the wedding was coming for months!"

"Yeah, but I didn't know anything about a bachelor party."

"Ha!" North said, turning his attention back to the bustling yetis. "You thought we wouldn't do anything fun?"

I arched an eyebrow at the task in my hands. "You call this _fun?"_ I asked.

"Well we had to get you out of that castle somehow," Bunny said, yanking the toy from my hands since I apparently wasn't painting it up to his standards. "Dica and Tooth were going to have a bachelorette party for Elsa one way or another." He flashed his green eyes over to me. "Are you nervous?"

My eyebrows came together. "About what?"

"The wedding ..." he said slowly. Why was everyone acting like I was stupid today?

I shook my head. "No."

"How about the wedding night?"

Looking over at him, I saw that he was smirking as he continued working on painting the toy in front of him. "What do you mean?"

"Come on," Bunny grinned, humor dripping from every word. "Don't tell me you have no clue about what goes on during the honeymoon."

"Of course I do," I sniffed, pressing my lips together as I grabbed an unpainted toy nearby.

"Really?" He said. "Then you aren't' at all worried about how you'll ... perform?" He took the toy away from me.

Feigning confidence, I scoffed. "Why would I be?" I countered, taking another toy from the pile only to have Bunny yank that one from my hands as well.

"So you've done it before?" The Guardian questioned. There was a spark of mischief in his eyes that usually belonged to me.

"I've been alive for over four hundred years, Bunny," I said, attempting to take the toy back from him, but it was pulled out of my reach.

"That wasn't the question," Bunny said in a smug tone.

"And?" I challenged with a mixture of irritation and embarrassment. "What's it to you if I have or not?"

"Just wondering," he replied with a shrug. The smirk on his face removed any credibility of his words. "Because you were invisible for three hundred of those years and, last I checked, no human over the age of eighteen believes in you so I was only curious to see if you have or have not done it before." His green eyes pierced into mine. "And if it was with Elsa or not?"

My fist clenched at my sides. "What exactly are you saying, Bunny?"

He held his paws up. "I'm not saying anything. It's just that you only met Elsa a little less than six years ago now and you said earlier that you've been alive for over four hundred years which makes it should like it was done earlier than six years ago if, in fact, it was done at all."

Glaring at him, I yanked the toy back and began painting it. "No," I answered. "I've never done it before." There was lapse in the conversation as I focused intensely on my task. "I am nervous."

To my immense surprise, Bunny slapped my on the back encouragingly and I looked at him over my shoulder. "Don't worry," he said. "I highly doubt she's done it either, mate. You were the first real contact she had with anybody since she became a spirit and she wasn't married as a human. During her time as a human, it would have been considered highly improper for something like that to take place with anyone she wasn't married to - especially with her being the Queen. So it's not as if she's going to have any high expectations of you. Actually, you'll probably surpass her expectations by being a virgin after four hundred years." He chuckled at that and I felt a little less anxious.

Nodding my head, I gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Bunny."

"But you'll have to be gentle, Jack," he said. Behind the grin and teasing tone there was an underlying hint of seriousness to his voice. "It'll hurt for her since it's her first time."

"Are you seriously giving me sex advice right now?" I groaned, abandoning the toy and letting my head drop into my hands.

"Bunny!" North, who had stepped away to settle a dispute between a couple of elves, approached us again. "Enough with the teasing."

"I'm just giving him the facts," Bunny said with another chuckle. I groaned in response.

"Where's Sandy when I need him?" I muttered, but North heard me and bellowed out a laugh.

"Making dreams so that he can come to your wedding tomorrow," he said. "Now get back to painting! We need to get as much done as possible." He looked down at me with bright blue eyes. "How does it feel to know that you'll be getting married tomorrow?"

"Surreal," I replied, resuming painting the half-red toy in front of me. Truth be told, my heart skipped a beat every time the thought crossed my mind.

"I know what you mean," North said as he sat down next to me. "I felt the same way about Callie."

"Callie?" I repeated, perking up. "Who's Callie?"

"She was my love," North said. "Where do you think all of the Mrs. Clause stories come from?"

"There was a Mrs. Clause?" I questioned curiously. I had thought she was a myth.

"Almost," Bunny corrected me, resulting in a glare from North.

"What happened?" I asked, looking between the two Guardians. It was a while before North finally answered me.

"She was mortal," he said simply and I understood immediately, looking down.

"Oh," I'm sorry, North. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memor-"

"Ah!" He cut me off with a wave of his hand. "It was a long time ago tonight is about you."

"Come _on,_ mate!" Bunny snapped once again taking the toy from my hands. "Painting isn't rocket science."

"Easy for you to say," I shot back "You paint Easter Eggs every year."

"Well I've seen elves do better paintings than this and you only have one color!" He countered, attempting to salvage my admittedly horrible paint job. I didn't say anything and just continued to glare at him before grabbing yet another toy.

"So ... what do you think Elsa and the girls are doing?" I asked, trying to start the conversation again. Bunny reached over and took the toy away from me and I threw my hands up in defeat.

"There's no telling," Bunny said. "Any idea what you'll be wearing to the wedding?"

"None," I grumbled. "Elsa won't even give me a hint!"

"I'm surprised you actually agreed to let her make your clothes. I haven't seen you wear anything except that hoodie and pair of pants since ... ever."

"She can be very persuasive," I muttered causing North to laugh.

"that is something you'll get use to," he said, glancing down at me. "Jack! Why aren't you painting?"

Huffing out a breath, I gestured irritably towards Bunny. "Why don't you ask the giant Kangaroo?"

"It's not my fault you paint like an untrained monkey!" Bunny argued. He doesn't like being called a Kangaroo.

North studied my poor attempt at painting the toy train that Bunny was trying to salvage and shrugged his shoulders, nodding his head slightly. "Perhaps you should help the yetis load up the sleigh," he suggested, patting me on the back gently.

My jaw dropped and Bunny howled with laughter as I slowly stood up from my stool, picking up a random stack of presents. Looking around the boxes to see where I was going, I managed to get them onto he sleigh. It was only about half full and I went to retrieve another stack of colorfully wrapped boxes.

"You know," I called out to the Guardians. "I hate to break it to you, but you guys aren't really the best at planning bachelor parties."

"Well next time don't plan your wedding in the week of Christmas," North shouted back and I grumbled to myself as I grabbed yet another stack of presents.

Eventually, there were so many presents put on the sleigh that it couldn't possibly hold any more and still manage to get off the ground so we started on wrapping the toys but, apparently, I'm horrible at that too. After attempting and failing to teach me how to wrap presents properly for about an hour, North and Bunny gave up and we sat around for the rest of the night drinking eggnog. Bunny and I had out occasional banter, we laughed, remembered old times.

At the first sight of the sun's rays, however, I was ushered into North's office with the door locking behind me. It was the wedding day.

* * *

**Oh my gosh! The next chapter is the wedding ceremony in Elsa's POV! I can't wait. I hope that you guys found this chapter to be at least a little bit funny ...**

**I'm debating whether or not to upload the next chapter tomorrow. I might wait until Monday, but if enough people want me to I might post it tomorrow.**

**Thanks for the reviews, favorites and follows!**

**Zerlinda**


	26. Chapter 26: Vows (Elsa's POV)

**Okay, I got several EXTREMEMLY enthusiastic reviews saying that I needed to post this chapter today so here it is!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 26: Vows (Elsa's POV)**

"It's time!" Tooth squealed, jumping up and down. She was looking out the balcony and I followed her line of sight. The sky was being painted in different colors as the sun began its assent above the snow-capped mountain tops. It was morning - the day was here. A cold chill ran down my spine and I wasn't sure if it was excitement, nervousness, or a combination of the two emotions.

"Should we go my way or yours?" Dica asked. I swallowed around a lump that had formed in my throat.

"Your way is faster," I said. My heart was beating so hard in my chest that I was surprised all of my bones were still in tact. I didn't remove my eyes from the glinting rays of the sun as they peaked around the horizon.

"Hey," Dica said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I pulled my gaze away from the scenery to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I said, but could only manage a whisper. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I'm fine," I repeated, my voice sounding stronger and louder. "Let's go."

Dica gave me a sharp nod and helped Tooth carefully gather the wedding dress, veil, Jack's clothes, and empty jug of eggnog before pulling her messenger bag of art supplied over her shoulder. She grabbed our hands firmly and I felt the cool sensation of being turned into ink run down my back as my eyesight went black. When I was able to see again, I was standing in a spare room of North's workshop. Various paintings lined the walls and there was a desk and a few chairs and bookshelves that were nowhere near filled with books. Overall, it looked pretty empty.

"Sorry about giving you the spare room," Dica said as she ran from one end of the room to the other, setting everything up with great care. "But Jack is in North's office and this was the only other place we could get you ready without ruining anything." She looked around and took a deep breath. "Okay ... everything seems to be in order here. Tooth, can you help Elsa with whatever she needs help with while I run these clothes down to Jack?"

Tooth gave her a nod and she raced out of the room. The fairy pulled out a duffel bag from under the desk and handed me a white, silk rob rom its contents. Immediately, I stripped out of my clothes and into he robe as Tooth started to layout different forms of makeup. Tying the sash firmly around my waist, I hugged my arms to my body and looked around, unsure of what to do.

Luckily, Dica came rushing back in at that moment. "Tooth! I need you to go downstairs and direct the yetis with setting everything up, please - I'll take care of Elsa." Tooth flew out of the room and Dica handed me a hair tie which I used to pull my hair back into a ponytail as she pulled in a curling iron.

My eyes flickered closed as she began to apply makeup to my face. Soft brushes ran across my skin, over my eyelids. I could hear the commotion outside and Tooth shouting orders to the yetis in preparation for the wedding. Footsteps were constantly running by the door. As directed by Dica, I opened my eyes so that she could add some mascara to my lashes. There was a knock on the door and Tooth re-entered the room.

"Um ..." she hesitated as Dica and I looked up at her. "We need to ..." She trailed off, but Dica nodded knowingly while I continued to be confused.

"Right," Dica said and turned her gaze back to me. "Elsa, I'm going to need you to close your eyes and keep them closed. Don't worry; Tooth and I will guide you so you won't get hurt. When we get downstairs, we're going to need you to shook frost in whatever directing we position you hands in. I know it'll be tempting to peek, but please don't - I promise it'll all be worth it at the ceremony.

I was still confused and my eyebrows were coming together, but I nodded anyways and stood up from the chair I hand been seated in while Dica was doing my makeup. I approached the door and closed my eyes, feeling Tooth and Dica take either one of my hands as I heard the door creak open and the noises from the other side became louder. Slowly, I walked forward and they patiently stayed with me, directing me when to turn which way and when to step down a step.

Eventually, they halted my movements and I forced my eyes to remain closed as they positioned my hands in different parts of the air, telling me when to shoot frost. This when on for some time before they told me to make it snow. Frowning, I did as I was told. It was exceedingly hard not to open one of my eyes slightly to observe my surroundings, but the two of them swiftly guided me away before I could all into temptation. The moment I head the door close behind me, my eyes flew open.

Dica sat me back down on the stool and released my hair from its ponytail, running a brush through it to remove any knots or tangles as Tooth flew around singing happily.

"Today's the day!" She said with a huge smile, taking my hands in hers. "Are you excited? You're getting married!"

I laughed, taking care to keep my head still as Dica began using the hot curling iron to style my hair. "Very excited," I said then bit my lip. "How do you think Jack is doing?"

"He's probably a nervous wreck considering the high anxiety levels he went through before and during the proposal." Dica replied as she twisted yet another lock of pale hair around the burning hot metal. "But don't worry, I doubt he's going to get cold feet. Are you nervous at all?" I felt the lingering heat on the successfully curled lock of hair as it was released from the curing iron and fell to my back. Dica wasted no time wrapping another lock around the barrel.

"Just a bit," I admitted. "I don't know why - it's not as if I'm unsure of my decision but it's still there, you know?"

Nodding her head, Dica started styling another lock. "It's normal to feel a little nervous. Like Tooth said - it's a big deal."

"You say that like you have experience, Dica," I said teasingly, trying to take my mind off the relentless pounding in my chest. "Do you have a secret relationship that I should know about?"

She barked out a laughed and shook her head, releasing another lock of hair. "No. I'm pretty sure I'm asexual by this point in my life, but I've written enough love stories to know the basics like the back of my hand."

"Really?" Tooth inquired curiously. "You're not interested in _anybody?"_

"Nope," Dica replied, continuing to curl my hair. "Never have been; I'm married to my art." Tooth kept staring at her in disbelief. "Don't look at me like that! You don't have any room to talk."

"You've _never_ been in love?" Tooth asked. "Not even when you were human?"

Again, Dica shook her head. "No. I was _engaged_ as a human, but it was an arranged affair so nothing particularly romantic. I suppose I was lucky that he was sympathetic with me and we became friends before I died."

"How did you die? If you don't mind me asking," I hurriedly added as I realized that it may be a sensitive topic. However, Dica just chuckled.

"It's fine, Elsa. It was the plague - I got sick."

Tooth, who probably already knew this, grinned at her mischievously. "Are you _sure_ you were just friends on his part?" She asked causing Dica to laugh again.

"Oh, I'm completely positive," she assured the fairy. "Aaron was homosexual."

Silence coursed through the room as Dica continued to curl my hair as if nothing unusual had happened. Tooth and I stared at each other in shock for several long moments before I finally came out of it.

"Why were you going to marry him if he was ...?" I let the question trail off, but Dica seemed to understand as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Like I said: It was an arrange marriage. And, at the time, admitting to homosexuality would have destroyed his reputation. And my brother and I needed money since our parents died and he had quite a bit of it. Plus, with our empathetic situations and friendship, all of the pieces just ... fell into place. It was a win-win situation. Until I died, that is."

"I'm sorry," I said quietly, and she just shrugged again.

"Don't worry about it. It was a long time ago. Besides, my brother ended up marrying his sister and living a happy life."

"What about Aaron?"

"Aaron never got married. He pretended to be absolutely devastated by my death for the rest of his life, claiming that I had been his one, true love and used that as an excuse for refusing every marriage proposal afterwards."

"But wasn't he upset when you died?" I asked.

"Of course he was. Like I said; we were friends. There was a period of genuine mourning, but he wasn't anywhere near as broken by it as he pretended to be," she giggled. "It was actually a bit amusing - he had a slight flare for the dramatic." I felt the last piece of hair fall down to frame my face and she began pulling the locks to the back of my head, styling them into the miniature bus and pinning them in place. "Okay, Elsa, add your snowflakes." I flicked my fingers towards my hair and heard her step back. "Perfect. Now you can just relax and I'll get ready. The longer you were your wedding dress, the more chances it can be ruined."

I nodded my agreement and watched as she applied her own makeup with a small, pocket mirror from the duffel bag which Tooth had left open on the desk. She also curled her hair, shortening its length from down to her shoulder blades to brushing the tops of her shoulders. A pale green dress was then removed from the bag and replaced her casual clothing. It was an off-the-shoulder, knee length dress that was paired with some black pumps.

Tooth started to jump up and down yet again. "It's time!" She said enthusiastically and she and Dica helped me into my dress, tying the corset strings firmly in the back. They put on my veil and I used my powers to create a full length mirror made of ice so that I could see my reflection. Did it sound arrogant to say that my own beauty took my breath away?

Dica came up behind me and I turned around to face her. In her hands, she held a plain wooden box. She smiled at me somewhat shyly which was not a common expression for her. "I know that the bride and groom aren't suppose to open their presents until after the wedding ... but a Queen can't walk down the aisle without a crown." She opened the box to reveal a beautiful ice tiara that was decorated with elegant swirls and snowflakes.

Carefully, she placed it on my head and I heard the music begin to play. My heart stopped and Dica gave my hands an encouraging squeeze before walking out with Tooth following closely behind her to sit in the audience. Sandy, who was standing in the doorway, gave me two thumbs up and a smile. Blushing, I smiled and looked down.

"Thank you, Sandy," I said quietly. He offered me an arm as I approached him, floating in the air so that I wouldn't have to bed over to accept it. He was dressed in a tuxedo and looked surprisingly nice in the different attire. Arm in arm, he guided me down to the main floor.

My breath was taken away again as I took in the decorations of the wedding around me. A thin, fresh layer of my snow coated the floor with the only clear part being the aisle. Various types of flowers made out of gold sand and frosted with my ice adorned the walls and stair railings as well as the altar itself where Jack stood with North, waiting for me.

Our eyes met and I didn't even try to contain the smile that stretched across my face. He looked incredibly handsome in the dress pants, waistcoat, button down shirt, tie and ... no shoes. A crown that looked to be made of twigs with berries and leaved tangled into the wood and then frozen over with ice adorned his head. It was just so _him_ and he smiled back at me as I slowly made my way down the aisle to him. When I finally reached the altar, his ice blue eyes were sparkling with happiness and he took hold of my hands as Sandy went to sit with the others.

North began to speak as the music stopped playing, but his words did not process in my mind and I continued to stare into Jack's eyes until I heard North ask for the rings. Olaf, our ring bearer, stepped forward and offered the Russian the pillow with the two rings laying on its surface as he smiled brightly up at us.

"Do you, Jack Frost, take this woman to be your wife? To be with her and protect her for better and for worse? To support her and love her as you have done until death do you part?" North asked in the same tone of voice he had used when reading me my Guardian oath all those years ago.

Jack took a ring from the pillow and slipped it onto my ring finger, never once looking away from my gaze. "I do."

"And do you, Elsa of Arendelle, take this man to be your husband?" North asked, turning to me. "To be with him and protect him for better and for worse? To support him and love him as you have done until death do you part?"

"I do," I vowed firmly, slipping Jack's wedding band onto his own ring finger.

"then, by the power entrusted to me by Man in Moon, I now pronounce you husband and wife!" North proclaimed with a sudden raise of volume. "You may kiss the bride."

North did not need to tell Jack twice as he barely managed to get the words our before my husband's lips crashed against mine, his arms coming around my waist to support me as I was bent over backwards from the force. Smiling into the kiss, I brought my hands up to cup his face then moved them so that they were around his neck and pulling him closer to me. Jack straightened our postures and lifted me off my feet without breaking our lips apart.

With a kiss, our vows were sealed.

* * *

**There it was! I really hope that the wedding lived up to everyone's expectations, it was a lot of pressure. Lol :)**

**Just to let you all know, there will be three more chapters in this story before the two epilogues so be prepared. (Kudoos to anyone who caught the Lion King reference.)**

**I will be posting a link to Elsa's tiara that Dica made her on my profile if anyone would like to see it.**

**All reviews, favorites, and follows are greatly appreciated and loved!**

**Zerlinda**


	27. Chapter 27: Crowns (Jack's POV)

**Chapter 27: Crowns (Jack's POV)**

"Hey, Jack!" A voice said as the door to North's office flew open behind me. I turned around to see Dica entering the room with a bundle of clothes and a plain box as she kicked the door closed behind her. She smiled at me. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine ... I guess." Truth was that my heart was racing and I couldn't tell if it was because I was nervous or excited. Probably a combination of the two. "How's Elsa?"

"Elsa's fine," Dica assured me. "She's in another room with Tooth right now as we speak."

My eyes flashed down to the objects in her arms. "Are those ...?"

"Your clothes for the wedding?" Dica finished. "Yep! And also your wedding present from me."

I shook my head and held up my hands. "You didn't have to get me anything."

She set my clothes down on North's desk and opened the plain, wooden box. "I know," she said. "I wanted to. Besides, I couldn't let the Snow King get married without a crown." She glanced up at me. "I made Elsa one too, although it is _much_ different from yours."

Curious, I walked closer to her to look into the box and felt my eyes widen at what was inside. I looked at Dica and she nodded. Gingerly, I reached into the box and pulled our the crown, turning it this was and that to examine it from all angles. It looked to be made of twigs and branches, woven together in a circular form with leaves and berries. To keep the design intact, the crown had been frosted over with ice. Grinning to myself, I put it on for size and found that it fit perfectly. I turned back to Dica resting my fists on my hips and puffing my chest out.

"What do you think?"

Dica rolled her eyes and smirked. "I think that it looks ridiculous with that hoodie and pair of pants. Get dressed." And with that, she rushed out of the room, locking the door behind her and leaving me alone once again.

Letting out a breath of air, I stared at the door. "Why does everyone keep locking the door?" I muttered to myself. "What do they think I'm going to do? Run away?"

Placing the crow back into the box carefully, I turned my attention to the clothes that were neatly folded next to it. The tie on top was a deep blue color that matched the waistcoat. It was decorated with frost as were the shoulders of the waistcoat. There was also a light blue button down shirt and a pair of black dress pants. No shoes were to be seen. _At least she held up her end of the bargain,_ I thought to myself.

Overall, though, the outfit didn't seem that bad. I liked it, even. It was formal while still being me. I mean, it wasn't my hoodie and brown trousers, but as far as formal clothing went, I doubt I would have been able to do better on my own. I was impressed. And the whole no-shoes thing was, admittedly, an added bonus to the whole outfit.

Slowly, I began to undress and put on the new clothing. Everything fit perfectly, even if the waistcoat was a little too tight for my liking but that could easily be due to the fact that I was used to wearing a loose hoodie. When it came time to put on the tie, however, I struggled realizing that I had no idea how to tie a tie. You can't blame me for that thought - there had never been a reason for me to learn before this moment!

The door opened again and I flew around, still fumbling with the fabric around my neck. Bunny walked in and his green eyes trailed down from mine to the tie that I was attempting - and failing - to tie properly. He grinned, leaning against the closed door behind him.

"Having issues, mate?" He asked, still grinning as it this was the funniest thing in the world to him. I bet it was.

"Yes," I huffed in irritation, letting my hand drop to my sides.

Chuckling, he walked over and fixed my tie. "How are you feeling?"

"I ... I don't know," I answered honestly. "Fine? I guess ..."

"Don't worry," Bunny assured me. "Everything will be great. Tooth is taking care of everything downstairs, Dica is helping Elsa get ready, Sandy just got here, and your clothes fit. Nothing to worry about. You'll go down and watch her walk down the aisle, say your vows, kiss the bride, and they you'll be a married man. There's nothing to it."

My head nodded as I took a deep breath and he slapped my on the back. "I know," I said. "I don't know why I'm so nervous."

Bunny grinned. "It's okay to be nervous, mate. As long as you don't get cold feet."

There was a knock on the door, making us look up at it as Tooth poked her head in. "Bunny?" She said. "Could you take care of everything downstairs for a bit?" Giving me one more pat on the back, Bunny nodded and walked out of the room. Tooth gave me a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," I replied through gritted teeth. _If one more person asks me how I'm feeling, I'm going to freeze everything._ "How's Elsa doing? Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Tooth said. "She's looking more and more beautiful by the second." Her eyes flashed to the wooden box on North's desk and came closer curiously. "What's that?"

"A crown Dica made," I said, taking the crown from the box by the tips of my fingers. "She said that if I'm going to be the Snow King then I can't get married without a crown."

"Well then, you should put it on," she said, taking the headpiece from my hands and placing it on top of my head. "There, you're ready." She turned me to face a full length mirror that was stuck in the corner of het office. I stared at my reflection. I looked ... different. Not a bad different, just different. Tooth smiled at me through the reflection of the mirror. "I should go make sure Elsa is doing okay," she said. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

Smiling as she left, I groaned and fell into a leather chair. My head fell into my hands. It was all so real yet, at the same time, it was as if everything was nothing more than a dream. Surreal. I could hear a lot of noise coming from the other side of the door, piquing my curiosity, but Tooth had locked the door behind her so I clearly was not supposed to know what was going on in spite of being the groom.

The tie around my neck suddenly felt too tight, like it was trying to choke me, and I started tugging at it. The temperature felt as if it had shot up fifty degrees. My heart was racing in my chest. I started taking deep breaths to calm myself down and the door opened again. What was this? Grand Central Station?

Olaf waddled into the room wearing a black bow tie around his neck and humming happily to himself. He spotted me sitting in the chair and smiled. "Hey!" He said. "Why do you looks so upset? It's your wedding day! You should be happy!" His happy expression dropped to one of worry. "You _are_ happy aren't you?"

Looking up at the talking snowman, I let my hands drop and gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course I'm happy, Olaf. I'm just nervous for some crazy reason. Don't worry about it."

"Well, do you want to see what it looks like downstairs?" He asked, returning to his typical optimistic self. "It's _beautiful."_

"I would love to, Olaf," I said. "But I don't think I'm suppose to leave this room - everyone keeps locking the door behind them."

He glanced at the door over his shoulder then back at me. "That's just because they didn't want you peeking before everything was ready," he explained. "But we can go down there now that the yetis are done setting everything up. Beside the wedding's about to start! You have to be standing at the altar for Elsa!"

A lump reappeared in my throat and my stomach twisted in on itself at he mention of the wedding as Olaf dragged me out the door and down the stairs. My jaw dropped when I saw what he yetis had done. There were only a few chairs set up on either side of the aisle, resting on a thin blanket of snow that covered the floor, the only clear spot being the aisle itself. Vines of elegant flowers made of dream san decorated the staircase railings, walls, and altar. They were frozen over with a thin layer of ice to help them keep their form. It looked so ... _magical._

"Jack!" A familiar Russian voice called. I turned as North approached me with a huge smile on stretched across his face. "How-"

"Don't as me how I'm feeling," I said, cutting him off. "This place looks amazing."

"We figured you would like it," North said, clapping me on the back. "We couldn't just let the two of you get married without making it look special, could we?"

"You could have," I admitted, grinning. "But I'm glad you didn't."

"Even after all that pish posh the both of you gave us about _not_ decorating?" He asked.

My only response was to laugh and hold up my hands in surrender as I glanced around the room. "Where's Sandy?"

North looked around for the moment before pointing somewhere to his left. "Over there." And, sure enough, when I directed my line of sight to where he was pointing, I saw Sandy. He was dressed in a tuxedo while sipping on a glass of eggnog in his hand and talking with Bunny, laughing silently at something the Guardian had said.

Putting his arm around my shoulders, North walked me over to where I was supposed to stand at the altar. "It is time," he said. Olaf grabbed the pillow with two rings on it and stood next to North who was standing slightly behind me. Bunny sat down in one of the chairs and I saw Sandy float up the staircase as Dica and Tooth descended it to join Bunny in the audience. Tooth waved excitedly at me as she took her seat and Dica gave me a small smile and nod of encouragement.

The elves were paying music and I felt my heart race in anticipation. Or was it nervousness? Either way my eyes remained glued to where Elsa would be coming from as I waited. This was it. Dica, Tooth, and Bunny all stood up from their seats and my heart stopped. All of our eyes were focused on that one spot of the staircase. She was coming.

Finally, I saw her tall, slim figure step down from the last step. She was walking arm in arm with Sandy who was floating by her side so that she wouldn't have to bend down to his small height. My breath was taken away from me as I took her in. She was beautiful, so beautiful, walking towards me in a dress of white - no, light blue - that flowed down her body in a way that made it look like she was floating. Her platinum blonde hair had been curled and pulled away from ber face, but the vast majority of it fell freely down her back. The veil trailed behind her silently as she came closer to me.

At first, her eyes didn't look at me. They flashed to different parts of the room, taking in her surroundings. Eventually though, her bright blue eyes _did_ meet mine and whatever anxiety that I may or may not have felt vanished. Her lips stretched into a wide smile of pure joy across her face and I felt my own do the same. I too her hand in mine when she reached me as Sandy went to sit next to Bunny in the audience. North began speaking but his words went in one ear and out the other as I continued to stare into Elsa's eyes. Before I knew it, he was saying the vows.

"Do you, Jack Frost, take this woman to be your wife? To be with her and protect her for better and for worse? To support and love her as you have done until death do you part?"

A sarcastic answer was playing at the tip of my tongue, but I forced it back. This was not the time to be sarcastic, this was very serious. "I do," I vowed, never once removing my gaze from Elsa. I took one of the rings from the pillow that Olaf was holding up and slipped it onto Elsa's ring finger as North turned to her.

"And do you, Elsa of Arendelle, take this man to be your husband? To be with him and protect him for better and for worse? To support and love him as you have done until death do you part?"

"I do." Her voice rang loud and clear, leaving no doubt of her words as she slipped my wedding band onto my own left ring finger.

"Then, by the power entrusted to me by Man in Moon, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

He barely managed to get he last sentence out before I pressed my lips against Elsa's, my arms going around her waist to support her as I bent her over backwards. Her hands caressed my face before she wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me closer and I straightened our posture, lifting her from the ground in the process. I was in a state of utter bliss as I kissed my wife.

Our vows were sealed.

* * *

**Only two more chapters before the epilogues! Wow, it's a little sad and heartbreaking but, at the same time, I'm a little bit happy that it's almost over. I've got a few other plot ideas floating around that I really want to get started on.**

**So ... I've gotten a LOT of requests asking for me to draw each of the characters in their respective outfits for the wedding. Tooth doesn't really have one just because I couldn't picture her wearing clothing with all of her feathers. You can see Jack's (inspiration), North's, Bunny's, and Sandy's outfits through the link for Jack's inspiration outfit which is posted on my profile. But, if you really want me too, I can see about drawing Elsa, Dica, and Jack's complete outfits. Just let me know.**

**For those of you who are wondering about the Lion King reference, it was in the author's note. Sorry, I should have made that a bit more clear.**

**Just wondering, does anyone who's reading this watch the Walking Dead? If so, did you see the season finale? Oh my gosh! PM me if you want to talk about it! :)**

**Thanks for all of the favorites, follows and reviews.**

**Zerlinda**


	28. Chapter 28: Together (Elsa's POV)

**Happy April Fools Day! For those of you who are fellow Harry Potter fans, it's also the beloved Fred and George Weasely birthdays!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 28: Together (Elsa's POV)**

When our lips broke apart, Jack and I just stood there for several long moments as we stared into each other's eyes. Somewhere in the far corners of my mind, I was aware of the applause from the Guardians and Dica but that was a minor detail compared to he shining joy that had filled my husband's ice blue eyes. Laughing blissfully, I kissed him one more time before walking back up the aisle with our fingers woven together.

The others quickly cleared the chairs and replaced them with one large round table which was then filled with food. On a smaller separate table, Tooth and Bunny were carefully setting the cake down and I felt my jaw go slack. That was a big cake! How were the eight of us _possibly_ going to eat all of that? Dica, who had just finished setting up chairs around the larger table, noticed my expression and grinned as she walked closer to us.

"Don't worry," she said. "Whatever we don't eat will be given to a homeless shelter."

Letting out a breath of relief, I smiled back at her. "Good."

"Congratulations, by the way."

I smiled up at Jack who was standing behind we with his arms wrapped around my waist. He smiled back down at me. "Thank you"

"See, Jack?" Dica teased. "Everything went fine. All that worrying for nothing. You might have anxiety issues."

Jack chuckled as she walked away to help North set up the plates and utensils around the table. When everything was done, the elves started to play a waltz and they all stared at us expectantly. Jack's brow furrowed in confusion as I took his hand and dragged him to a clear spot of snow in the room. Understanding dawned on his face when my arms wrapped around his neck and we began to dance our way around in circles.

One by one, the others joined us on the floor. Dica danced with Sandy as he was floating to her height while Bunny danced with Tooth and did not look to be very happy about it. Luckily for him, he was saved by North who son stepped in to dance with the fairy instead as the Pooka made his way to a chair and slumped into it. Olaf sat next to him, happily humming along as he swayed left and right to the music with a wide smile on his face.

"Did you know they were doing all of this?" Jack asked quietly so that he wasn't overheard. I shook my head, amazed at the work and detail that our friends had put into our wedding in spite of the face that we had insisted they not trouble themselves with it.

"No," I said. "I had no idea." I observed him from head to toe and a smirk came across my face. "Glad to see that your clothes fit."

"They fit very well," Jack agreed. "I like them."

"Good," I said. "Does that mean you're going to let me make your clothes more often now?"

He laughed. "Not a chance," he said, pulling me closer to him. "I still prefer my hoodie."

"Oh well," I sighed in mock disappointment. "You can't blame a girl for trying." I looked up at him when he didn't respond to see him staring at me with a goofy smile on his face. Checking over both of my shoulders, I gave him a skeptical look. "What?"

Shaking his head, his smile grew. "Nothing ... _Mrs. Frost."_

Rolling my eyes, I couldn't stop the smile that forced its way onto my own face. "You're going to be over the moon for the rest of the night because of that, aren't you?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm gong to be over the moon because of that for the rest of my life," he corrected me.

Watching him with squinted eyes for a minute, I considered the statement before giving him a slight shake of my head. "It'll get old eventually."

"Impossible," he grinned, causing me to raise an eyebrow.

"We're immortal, Jack," I pointed out. "That's just about as possible as you can get."

"Not when it comes to this," he argued and I hummed.

"Hmmm ... well, I guess we'll have to see about that."

"Yes we will," Jack agreed and gave me a quick kiss. "You're going to lose that bet, though."

I only laughed and kissed him again as the elves stopped playing the music and we slowly ceased our movements. For a moment, we just stood there and silently stared into each other's eyes as Dica, North, Tooth, and Sandy moved to sit at the table. Eventually, the sound of Bunny clearing his throat made us look away and towards the others who were smirking at us.

"If the two of you are done making goo-goo eyes at each other, then can we eat?" Bunny grumbled irritably. Dica smacked him lightly on the shoulder and glanced at him with disapproving hazel eyes.

"Let them enjoy the moment," she scolded him. "It's not as if you're going to starve to death."

Green eyes glared at her as we made our way to the table and sat next to each other. His flare seemed to have no affect on her though as she promptly began to fill her plate with the various types of food that decorated the center of the table. Potatoes, casseroles, meat, pasta, rolls ... just bout everything you cold possibly imagine. I could only imagine how long it took to cook so much food. A peek over at Jack told me that similar thoughts were going through his mind.

"Who did all of the cooking?" Jack asked incredulously.

"North did," Dica answered, taking a bite of mashed potatoes.

Both of us looked over at North who's only response was to shrug his broad shoulders and bury his face in his own plate of food. jack raised an eyebrow and we exchanged a glance. I looked over at he huge wedding cake which was covered in white frosting and elegantly decorated with blue and silver snowflakes with blue flowers as the topper.

"Did you do the cake as well?" I asked.

To my surprise, Bunny answered. _"I_ did the cake."

"Really?" Jack said, a huge grin covering his face. "I didn't know you liked to bake, Bunny."

"Chocolate is Bunny's specialty," Tooth explained.

My ears perked up at the mention of the sweet, rich flavor. "The cake is chocolate?"

"Of course," Dica said. "What else did you think we would make it? Vanilla? Not with your obsession."

I narrowed my eyes in her direction but laughed anyways as I began to eat. Everyone began to talked about differently things and congratulate us on being married. We laughed and made jabs at each other, talked about past times. Jack and I complimented the others on their work and detailing of the wedding. During on part of the conversation, I felt Jack reach over and take my hand under the table. My eyes flashed over to him, but he was focused on a conversation with North so I wove our fingers together and he squeezed my hand.

Eventually, everybody quite refilling their plats. Our conversation kept going, though. Soon, we were all laughing to the point of tears as Olaf began telling a story about a fight he and Sven had had over his carrot nose one time when a sneeze had forced the vegetable off his face. He used huge movements with his stick arms to further detail the story and even jumped up to stand in his chair. Finally, we were all able to catch our breaths.

"Okay, Dica gasped through a few giggles. "I think it's time to cut the cake."

We agreed and Jack stood from his chair, holding out a hand to help me do the same. I accepted the hand and he pulled me to my feet, leading me over to where the cake was set up. Taking my hand in his, we gripped the silver knife and he stood behind me as he directed my hand to cut a piece, revealing the brown cake underneath the icing. We put the slice onto a smaller plate and each took a fork.

He used his fork to break a bite from the cake and I saw a mischievous glint in his ice blue eyes as he began to lift it to my face. Quickly, I lifted my own to his face and smeared it over is lips. His fork froze centimeters from my mouth and I took the opportunity to eat the piece of cake as the Guardians and Dica laughed and cheered at my victory.

Jack came out of his brief moment of shock and managed to grin at me before I crushed my lips to his, getting cake on my own lips in the process. Laughing, I pulled away and licked the sweet dessert from my face. I looked over at Bunny and nodded my head, smiling.

"Very good, Bunny," I said and he gave a slight bow of his head in acknowledgment of the compliment. When I turned back to face Jack, I was greeted by a fork smashing another bite of cake to my lips. My jaw dropped to the floor as Jack grinned widely and victoriously. Deciding that it would probably be best if I didn't retaliate and cause a food fight, I simply licked that off my face as well and cut another slice of cake for myself.

Once Jack and I returned to the table, everyone else gathered around to get a piece of their own. When they rejoined us at the table, our conversation continued. Eventually, the sun was starting to descend below the snowy horizon of the Pole. We were just preparing to leave when Dica and Tooth pulled me away from the rest of the group. I looked at them with a confused expression.

"We have one more present for you," Dica explained and Tooth presented me with a blue and white wrapped box with an elaborate silver bow on the top.

Giving them another apprehensive look, I took the present and went to untie the ribbon only to have Tooth stop me by placing her hands over mine.

"Don't open it just yet," she said with a reassuring smile. "Wait until you're back at the Ice Castle."

My brow furrowed in further incomprehension and Dica explained, "It's for the wedding night."

Understanding coursed through me as I felt my eyes widened. A groan from Jack made me turn around. His head had fallen into his hands while North and Bunny and Sandy all chuckled around him. Turning back to Dica and Tooth. I let out a shaky breath.

"I'm nervous," I admitted.

Tooth smiled at me gently. "Don't be."

"But what if I mess up? What if he doesn't like ..." I let my sentence trail off as I bit my lip.

_"Please,"_ Dica scoffed. "After five years, I highly doubt that one night of bad sex is going to cause a divorce. Especially when both of you are virgins."

Nodding my head, I took a another deep breath to calm my nerves as I considered the validity of her statement. "You're right," I said. "I'm being ridiculous."

"Yes, you are," Dica agreed, giving me a quick hug. Now go consummate your marriage."

Chuckling, I embraced Tooth as well before making my way over to Jack and saying my goodbyes to the rest of the Guardians. Dica assured me that all of the leftover food would go to people in need. Sandy flew off s it was getting late and it was time for him to deliver dreams to sleeping children. North handed us a snowglobe and I gave Olaf a hug before taking Jack's hand and walking through the portal to return to the Ice Castle.

The portal closed behind us and then there was nothing. No movement, no kisses, no sound. Was it possible for silence to be so loud? I looked down and began to fidget with the smooth fabric of the ribbon on the present in my hands as Jack looked around, rubbing the back of his neck. Both of us were unsure as to how to proceed.

After a while, Jack cleared his throat. "Well ... erm ... I'm, uh ... I'm just going to, um ..." He didn't finished his sentence and bolted to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

I stared after him for a moment then slowly walked to my own room and sat down on my bed. Placing the elegantly decorated box in my lap, I began to deliberately untie the bow and open the present. The last of the wrapping paper fell away and I removed the lid. Tissue paper concealed its contents and I pulled that away too and revealed a light blue sheer babydoll.

Runny my hand over it gently, I found it to be soft and I took it out of the box and placed in on the bed next to me. I stuffed the wrapping paper and tissue paper into the box and set it on the floor by the bedside table before slowly undoing the stings of my corset at the back of my wedding dress. It wasn't an easy task, but with a little bit of time and patience, I managed to get my dress off and gingerly put it away before putting on the babydoll.

My heart pounded in my chest as my shaking fingers removed the hair pins from the back on my head, allowing the curled pale locks to face my face. Jack had yet to come out of his room and I began to grow even more nervous. In my nervousness, my feet started to move on their own accord, pacing from one side of the room to the other and I started to sing in an attempt to calm myself.

_"Let it go, let it go,  
And I'll rise like the break of dawn.  
Let it go, let it go!  
That perfect girl is gone!"_

"Really?" Jack's voice jerked me out of my thoughts, making me jump and turn around to face him. He was leaning against the door frame in only his typical brown trousers with his arms crossed over his bare chest as his ice blue eyes roamed over my body. "From where I'm standing, this girl looks pretty perfect to me."

"Jack," I said in a breathy tone as he came up to me and pulled my close. "I'm nervous."

His hand ran through my hair. "I know," he replied quietly. "I am, too. But we'll figure it out. Together." And our lips met again with such passion that I had never felt before . All of my worries melted away as our lips moved in sync and his hand slipped under the babydoll. Min ran over the skin of his chest before gripping the soft locks of his white hair. Picking me up, he carried me to the bed, never once letting our lips break apart.

No matter what came at us, we would figure it out. Together. My Snow King and I.

* * *

**So, the next chapter will be this in Jack's POV and then it's onto the epilogue. After that, I'll begin working on the pictures of Jack, Elsa, and Dica for you all and upload them onto my DeviantArt account. I'll post and authors note after the story is over to let you know when all three pictures are uploaded.**

**Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews!**

**Zerlinda**


	29. Author's Note: I AM SO SORRY! :(

**Okay, so this is an apology.**

**I am so, so, so sorry I haven't updated in so long! I got caught up in prom and graduation is quickly approaching so there's a lot of stuff to do for that along with preparing for college and my personal life just got hectic and I've just been super busy. I know I told some of you via PMs that I was going to update the next chapter by the end of this week, but it's just not going to happen because I haven't even gotten around to writing it yet. I have it planned out in my head, but nothing on paper.**

**This fanfic is not completed yet, I promise! I will update as soon as I can. I'm just not sure when that is going to be.**

**Sorry for not updating in so long ...**

**Zerlinda**


End file.
